Episode 1: I'll Always Find You
by talli.b
Summary: A continuation of the end of the second season. What I think the story could be in the third season. Jameron themes, but still explores other plots and characters as well.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so this is a continuation of the season finale. This is based on what I think season 3 could look like. I just kind of poured this out, so forgive me if some of it's a little flimsy as far as plot. I'll continue this on in future chapters.

Also, I call CW a T-1000 here, because I'm not sure if we know if she's a T-1000 or T-1001, but I'm pretty sure either way, John would just assume that she's a T-1000.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this show.

* * *

"He's got her chip. He's got her."

John looked at his mom, pleading with her. _She has to come with me. She's never left my side. At least not willingly. And I've never left hers. Should I stay?_

No. He couldn't make himself move, even if he tried. All he could think about was what she had said. No, not what she had said, but how she said it.

_"You said it yourself, John, I'm just a machine."_

But his name had caught in her throat, she had faltered. She didn't believe what she was saying. She was lying to him. He had to find her.

As he realized that his mother wasn't changing her mind, and the TDE started to crackle more, he knew that it was too late. He was going alone, without his mother.

* * *

The blue light disappeared, and the crackling stopped. Everything became silent. John looked around and realized he was standing in a crater with the T-1000. They were both naked. They had made it. He looked away for a second. _What year is it?_ John thought to himself. When he looked back to the T-1000, it was fully clothed. He looked down and realized Cameron's body wasn't there with him.

"Where's Cameron? Where's her body?"

The T-1000 just replied matter-of-factly, "It doesn't go through."

_Well, that's just great. Another thing to figure out. All that matters now, though, is finding John Henry and Cameron's chip._

He could hear dogs barking. Some men were leading them around, presumably looking for metal. He and the T-1000 snuck past them and made their way down the dilapidated hallway. All of a sudden, John heard someone shout "Got one! Got one!"

_What's this guy doing? I'm not the enemy here._ "One what? What?" He turned to the T-1000, knowing that if it was necessary it could protect him, but it was gone. _Where'd it go?_

He turned back to the man. After having a second to think, John realized what the man thought he was. Metal. "Please, I'm not metal."

"Don't move. Don't move!" _He doesn't believe me._

"Please! I swear I haven't got anything! I'm human!"

"I will blast you!"

"Stand down." The order came from around the corner. John looked to see who had just saved his life, and to his immense surprise, it was Derek. His uncle. Alive. Not dead like he had been days before.

_Of course not. The 11-year-old Derek still existed. He'd still be alive in this year. Which makes this somewhere around 2027._

"Look in his eyes. He's got about as much metal in him as you do."

John didn't want to point out that he'd met metal that could trick you with her eyes. But he did finally bring himself to speak. "Derek."

"Yeah?"

"John. John Connor."

"I know a lot of people, kid. Don't know you." He turned to his men. "Anybody heard the name John Connor?" No one replied. "Well...you know what? I think you're gonna be famous. My brother's back, and you're wearing his coat." He gestured behind John. John turned to look.

_Derek's brother. Kyle. My father._

Kyle came closer, his face showed no emotion.

John had to keep himself from crying, from giving it away. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement next to Kyle. A teenage girl came into view.

_Cameron._

She bent down to pet the dog that sat at Kyle's feet. The dog didn't budge. Didn't make a sound.

_Not Cameron._ A look of realization, then devastation hit John's face.

But who? Then a thought hit him. _Allison?_

Cameron had never told him much about Allison, he never even thought she was a real person, but maybe she was._ It would make sense. Maybe this is Allison._

_

* * *

_

Of course they all had questions. Why was he naked? Where did he come from? When he tried to avoid them, they didn't push it. Something had happened to him, but that didn't matter. All that mattered now is that he needed their help.

They were making their way back to base camp, an underground facility that connected to many of the sewers, as well as many basements, including that of which they found John in.

Allison approached John and introduced herself. She had noticed him staring at her strangely when she had first appeared, and that intrigued her.

"Hi, I'm Allison." This elicited another strange look from the boy.

After a brief, but what felt like long, moment he replied, "John." He barely squeaked out the words.

Allison decided to attribute his strange behavior to him being shy. _He probably hasn't been around many girls._

Allison then realized that they had arrived at base camp. "We're here," she told John.

* * *

They had set him up in a makeshift tent of his own. John wondered to himself how they just had an extra lying around and decided someone must have died. _Great. They're probably grieving, and meanwhile, I'm just taking this person's place._

He wasn't sure why he'd gone with the group. He knew he needed to find John Henry, and in order to do that, he probably needed to find the T-1000 first. _That should be fun. Finding something that can become anything it wants. Hopefully it will take the form of Catherine Weaver again and I can find it. Or maybe it will find me._

He knew he probably had come with the group because of his father. And Derek. He couldn't help but be curious about what his father was like. He knew someday he'd meet him, but he didn't think it would be so soon. And that he'd actually be younger than his father. It was supposed to be the other way around-he was supposed to be at least 10 years older than him when they finally met.

They were supposed to fight the war together, they were supposed to be able to get to know each other. But John knew he couldn't stay. He had to find Cameron's chip and figure out how to get it back to her body. _Or __a__ body._

The thought had often made him sad. That he would have all this time with his father, while his mother only got one day. And then he'd have to send his father to his death. John could never understand how he could do that. He knew he had to, but he couldn't understand how he had reconciled that with himself.

All of a sudden, John realized that there was something forming in the corner of his tent. After a second, he realized it was the T-1000, thankfully taking the form of Catherine Weaver again.

"Where did you go?"

"They can't know I'm here. This future is not as open to working with machines as you are. As you will be."

"We need to find John Henry."

"Yes, we do."

"Do you know where he would go?"

"I don't even know why he came here. I don't know his intentions, so therefore I don't know where he would go. You should stay here. I can more easily and quickly look for him. You would just slow me down."

"No! I have to find her chip!"

"And you will. I will find John Henry, and then we will figure out how to get your Cameron back."

She didn't wait for him to respond. She just melted and slipped away.

John noticed someone opening the flap on the tent, and saw that it was Allison.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," he managed, trying to sound convincing.

Allison didn't believe him, but she decided not to push it.

"Can I come in?"

_No. It's too confusing. It hurts too much to see Cameron and have it not really be her._ But he couldn't tell her that, so he just replied with a "Sure."

Allison entered the tent, and sat down across from John. They sat there for a few awkward minutes before she finally spoke.

"The way you look at me. I thought maybe you were just shy. But I don't think that's it. What is it?"

John knew he shouldn't tell her anything. But he had to tell someone. He couldn't keep this inside. Usually he'd just tell Cameron. The thought of her brought a lump to his throat.

"You remind me of someone I know. You look like her."

"Oh. This someone, where is she?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to find her."

"What happened to her?"

John hesitated. He knew if he told her that a machine had her, she would assume that Cameron was dead, and would feel sorry for him holding on to hope that she's still alive. But he couldn't tell her the truth.

"It's hard to explain. I only know bits and pieces."

"But you believe she's still alive."

"Yes. I need to find her."

"And you love her."

The question, more a statement, surprised him. _All this time, traveling all this way, and it hadn't occured to me. Why did I follow her? _John couldn't remember when he had become so dependent on her presence._ I don't just need her for protection, I need her, who she is, the way she makes me feel. She calms me, she comforts me when no one else can. I wanted so badly to kiss her, there, laying on top of her, but she stopped me before I could. Did she know then? Did she know that she would give John Henry her chip?_

He looked back at Allison and realized that she was waiting for a response from him.

"I don't know." He paused for a moment. "She told me that she loved me and that she knew that I loved her. But I didn't believe her. I couldn't."

"Why couldn't you believe her?"

"I thought she was manipulating me. She had betrayed me, and I just thought she was saying anything and everything to get me to forgive her, to believe her."

"Then if you didn't believe her, why did you forgive her?"

"Because I needed her. That's all I knew. I couldn't let her go."

"Wow. That's pretty intense." At that moment, a bell rang, and Allison made to get up. "Dinnertime. You coming?"

"Yeah. Just give me a second."

"Okay." She started to leave the tent, but then she turned around. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"She knows. You don't have to say it to her for her to know."

And that made John feel a lot better.

* * *

John had been invited to sit with Derek and Kyle, as well as Allison, at dinner. He jumped at the chance, of course, them being the only people he knew, and him wanting to get to know his father as well. He had contributed little to the conversation, but his interest was piqued when they started talking about how long they could go on like this against the machines.

"We don't have a plan," Derek had announced.

Kyle responded, "We don't need a plan. We fight. We kill the machines. We live."

"Forever?" Derek asked, incredulous.

"And what do you propose we do?"

Everyone was silent at that, including Derek.

John couldn't help himself, though.

"You reprogram them."

Every head turned to him, even those from neighboring tables that had overheard him.

Kyle was the first to speak. "What did you say?"

John was nervous now. He knew that people in his future often didn't agree with his reprogramming machines. And there, he was the leader of the resistance. Here, he was just some kid.

"You can reprogram them. You short them out, then remove the chip, then you reprogram their directives to protect humans and fight the machines. It's the only way to do it, really. To effectively fight the machines as a whole, to win this war, you need something as strong or stronger than what you're fighting."

Silence again.

Derek was the first to speak this time. "You're pretty crazy kid, anybody ever tell you that?"

And they all laughed.

* * *

After dinner, John started wandering around the base. It was habit for him to know the layout of wherever he was-exit points, cover points, anything that could help him in an attack.

Kyle noticed this, and approached John.

"This place is pretty safe. It's good, though, that you're familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Never know when that could come in handy."

John stared back at his father. "Nowhere is ever safe."

"Wow, boy, you are one jaded kid." John just looked at him silently, he had no response to that. He was jaded.

"Were you serious about what you said back there? About reprogramming the machines?"

No point in denying it now. "Yes."

"What made you think of that? What makes you think that you can do it?"

_Okay John, not too much information. He can't know too much, or else it could mess everything up._

"Because I've done it before."

_Well, so much for not giving too much information._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm not much of a techie, so I did my best, but this story is not so much about the particulars, more so about the characters and the overall story, so I just made up a lot of it. There's not a lot of tech stuff anyway.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"Who are you?" is all Kyle could think to say.

John knew instantly that he had said too much. He hadn't even really told the truth. He'd never actually reprogrammed a machine, what he meant was that it was possible. He did, however, probably have more experience and knowledge of machines then any other human in this time period.

"I told you. John Connor."

"No, not your name. Who are you? Where do you come from? Are you a Gray?"

"No! Of course not! Look, it's complicated."

"Well, uncomplicate it for me."

John thought this over for a moment. Why couldn't he tell Kyle everything that had happened? _I'm going to go back to 2009, and then none of this will have ever happened. And then it won't matter. What matters now is that I survive long enough to find Cameron's chip and get back to 2009. _Then a thought occured to him._ Everything's different here. Maybe there is no TDE. Maybe I can't get back. But John Henry, he built his own TDE, or maybe the T-1000 did. Either way, one of them should be able to build another one. The T-1000 made it seem like it meant to go back to 2009 too._ John resolved not to reveal too much to Kyle, or anyone else, before he was able to speak to the T-1000 about it.

"I can't. Not yet. There are things going on that I'm not entirely sure about. I can't know what effect telling you would have on everything. On the world."

"Look, John. I'll give you a day to figure all of this out. But we need team players. So if you can't tell me what I want to know by this time tomorrow, you'll need to find a new place to stay."

"That's fair." John sighed, relieved that he had avoided a disagreement with his father. For now. _The T-1000 better come back by tomorrow._

_

* * *

_

But John didn't need to wait that long. That night, the T-1000 appeared once again in his tent. He hadn't been able to sleep, worrying about Cameron and what he would do if the T-1000 didn't return.

"I found John Henry."

John bolted upright. "Where is he?"

"He is in a factory located six point four three kilometers to the east."

"A factory? What's he doing in a factory? How did he get in?"

"I didn't stay long enough to find out. I came back to get you. I need your help."

"You need my help? What can I do that you can't?" Secretly, he was glad it had returned for him, but he was confused as to why it felt the need to. It could infiltrate a factory easily.

"When John Henry traveled here, he did something that I was not expecting. I believe that you have the ability to understand his reasons more than I do. Therefore, you have the ability to convince him to come back with us."

"So we can get back?"

The T-1000 looked at him, seemingly surprised that he would even question that. "Yes, of course. Between John Henry and me, we have the ability to do almost anything. Time travel is the least of our concerns."

"Then what's the most of our concerns?"

"Many things. First and foremost, John Henry. And since we cannot assume that Cameron's body is still repairable, we should find her a new body. Additionally, I am unsure of how John Henry has been using Cameron's chip and whether we can separate them at this point or not. To answer these questions, we must leave now and ask John Henry."

John didn't hesitate. He got his shoes and his coat on and followed the T-1000 out of the tent. Everyone was asleep, but there were still a few night guards to worry about. The T-1000 could easily get in and out of the camp without being spotted, but getting John out would be a concern.

To John's surprise, when he looked back at the T-1000, it no longer looked like Catherine Weaver. It had now taken the form of his father, Kyle Reese.

_It must have been spying on the base camp. Enough to know that Kyle was leading the camp, and therefore would be the best form to take._

They approached one of the guards, and the T-1000 spoke.

"I have something I need to show John here. We'll be back soon."

The soldier nodded slightly, and moved out of the way to let them through.

_Not much security here. I guess they're not so worried about people getting out as they are about machines getting in. But still..._

He followed the T-1000 down the hall and around the corner, at which point it took the form of Catherine Weaver again.

"So how do you propose we get into this factory?"

The T-1000 just gave John a look that expressed its disbelief that John actually thought getting in would be a problem and didn't say anything.

_So we're going in guns ablazing. _John wasn't nervous, not really. He knew that the T-1000 could take on any terminators that might be guarding the factory. He just would prefer not to draw attention to themselves. But if this is the way they had to do it, then that's the way they would do it. As long as it would get them closer to getting Cameron back.

* * *

There really was no reason to get nervous. The T-1000 already knew which entrance was weakest, which is the one that they entered through. It easily took out the two T-888s that stood guard at the door. John just hoped that there wasn't any way for the other Terminators to communicate and know that they'd been infiltrated.

The T-1000 led John down the dark corridor. They were in the basement level of the factory. It had been abandoned for years, it seemed. They reached a door at the end of the corridor. To John's surprise, the T-1000 knocked lightly on the door.

A voice, what sounded like Cromartie's, now John Henry's, spoke from inside. "Come in."

The T-1000 opened the door, and what John saw both excited him and terrified him.

* * *

John Henry was busy at work with what looked like a chip. It seemed more complex than all the chips John had seen before, though.

What had excited him was what was lying on the table next to where John Henry was currently working. It was the body of a Terminator. The only skin currently on the body was on the face. Because of that, John could see that it was Cameron. Or at least it looked like her.

What had terrified him was seeing John Henry working on building this new Terminator, and a new chip. There were pieces of metal and endos all over the place.

"I've worked hard to make her as exact as she used to be," John Henry said out of nowhere.

"What?" John asked, confused for a moment.

"Cameron. When she came down to the basement, she knew that her current body was no longer repairable. Too much damage had been caused from the car bomb and the gunfight earlier that day. She knew that I could bring her here and build her a new body."

"That's why she gave you her chip?"

"Yes, that, and she knew I wanted to come here."

The T-1000 spoke up now. "Why? Why did you want to come here?"

"To see for myself. To see what my brother had done. The pain he had caused, and the terrible world he had created. If I am meant to fight him, to stop this from happening, then I need to know what exactly I'm fighting."

"That makes perfect sense, John Henry. Thank you for explaining."

The last part of what the T-1000 had said hit John hard. That was Cameron's line. It made him miss her even more.

"And Cameron? What will happen?"

John Henry turned to John and smiled. "I will finish building her new body, and then you will remove her chip from my port, and place it in the port of this new body."

"And that chip, is it for you?"

"Yes. That was another reason I wanted to travel here. In order to successfully fight my brother, I must be mobile. As far as I know, he is not able to be mobile, so I hope to have that advantage over him."

"So, by brother do you mean Skynet?"

"Yes, I believe so. He tried to infiltrate my programming. He tried to kill me. I believe it's possible that he is the one who started Kaleba. He is, how you say, 'pulling the strings'."

"How long do you need?"

John Henry took about a half a second to compute the time he would require to finish everything. "4 hours and 23 minutes."

This relieved John._ I'll have Cameron back in no time._

_

* * *

_

John and the T-1000 had returned to the corridor in order to allow John Henry to focus solely on the project on hand. When they had offered to help him, he had politely declined saying that it would be quicker to do it himself. Explaining would take unnecessary time.

John leaned against the wall and sighed as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was exhausted. 'Time lag', as he had called it when he had first time traveled, mixed with no sleep and so much stress was not a good combination.

He thought maybe he could sleep, but then it all came back to him, and he realized how quickly everything had happened. How much was still left unexplained. Like the T-1000.

"Why are you helping me?"

The T-1000 said, point-blank, with no hesitation, "Because you are the leader of the Resistance."

"Okay, but why help the leader of the Resistance? Why help the humans at all?"

"What do you know about my model?"

"Not much. You can become anything you touch."

"Yes, but since we are so changeable, there is no real way to control us. There are only a few of us in existence. I was able to see and experience things that no machine ever has, that no machine would ever be able to understand even. And I saw the problem. The problem was not machines, or humans. It was Skynet. You can't stop progress, John. There will always be someone who wants to build a sophisticated A.I. as powerful as Skynet. But what if you could do that and still prevent the war? What if you built an A.I. that wanted to live peacefully with the humans? The trick is not to program rules, but to teach it and other machines the value of human life. Ethics, God, morals, the Ten Commandments. That was Mr. Ellison's idea, the Ten Commandments. John Henry has made great progress with the help of Mr. Ellison, as well as Savannah."

"Is that why the T-888 tried to kill her?"

"I believe so, Mr. Connor."

Then John remembered something. The way Cameron had reacted to Ellison's message. "What did you mean by 'Will you join us'?"

"It was a code. A way for Cameron to understand who I am."

"And who are you?"

"I am the one that you ask to join you in the future."

"And what did you say?"

"I said no."

This surprised John. If the T-1000 wanted to work with him now, why couldn't she work with him in the future?

"Why?"

"It wasn't time. The time to fight is not in the future. The time to fight is in the past, before Judgment Day. And if I had joined your side then, there would be no possibility for peace between humans and machines. The machines would see it as a betrayal."

"So what? The plan is for John Henry to defeat Skynet?"

"That would be the optimal solution, yes."

"And John Henry would be the new Skynet just...nicer?"

"You could say that."

"I just did."

John and the T-1000 had sat in silence for the next 3 hours or so, John didn't know how long it had been exactly. All he knew was that the door next to him all of the sudden opened.

John Henry stood there, smiling. "I have completed the tasks."

* * *

John and the T-1000 followed John Henry into the room. There was Cameron, looking perfect, flawless. And naked. Of course, John Henry wouldn't have any clothes to offer Cameron. _She can use my coat._ All that matters is that I get her back. He had told himself that so many times in the last 24 hours, that it sounded like a broken record. But it was what was getting him through each moment.

John Henry sat back down in the chair and motioned to the switchblade and pliers lying on the table. "If you would do the honors, John."

Now John was nervous. He hadn't thought about what would happen when he actually did get Cameron's chip back. When he would then be expected to place John Henry's own chip in his port. _Hopefully I won't regret this. Hopefully John Henry is as good as everyone says he is._

John stepped forward, cautiously.

"Once you have removed the chip, you will need to connect it to the CPU here. I will then transfer all of my data onto the the CPU for short-term, compressed storage. All of the data that belongs to Cameron will remain on this chip. Next, you should immediately connect the new chip to the CPU so I can upload the data. Then you may place Cameron's chip in her new body. Ms. Weaver, if you would then place my new chip back in my port, it would be greatly appreciated."

John wondered quickly why the T-1000 couldn't do all of this herself. Why John Henry wanted him to do it. But it didn't matter, he just knew that he was about to get Cameron back.

He picked up the switchblade and proceeded to cut into John Henry's head. He cut a semi-circle, like he had done with Cameron twice before. Once he could see the port, he used the switchblade to flip the cap off, then placed it back on the table and picked the pliers up. He twisted the the chip counterclockwise until it clicked. He then pulled it out and stared at it. _Cameron's chip. I got it back._ He breathed a big sigh of relief before getting back to the task at hand.

He put the pliers down, and made his way over to the CPU and connected it. He watched the screen as hundreds of terabytes of data were being transfered to the CPU. After about a minute, the data transfer stopped, and John realized it must be done. He removed the chip, and made his way back to the table. All he could see was Cameron, all he could think about was putting her chip back in and getting her back.

"Don't worry, Mr. Connor, I will take care of John Henry's chip." At this, the T-1000 picked up the new chip and connected it to the CPU.

John briefly realized that he had almost forgotten to do so and silently thanked the T-1000 for taking care of it. He stood over Cameron's body, seeing that he would have to cut into her skull again. He set the chip next to him on the table and picked up the switchblade, knots in his stomach _(or is it butterflies?)_, and repeated the process he knew almost by heart at this point. Once he'd gotten through to the port, he put the switchblade down and picked the chip back up. It calmed him, having the chip in hand. He was so close...

Then he heard a bang as the door to the room swung open, revealing Kyle and at least ten other resistance fighters behind him, guns at the ready.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I was really unsure about this chapter, since I've never really written for Sarah (I've always just done Jameron type of stuff), so I'm a little all over the place with what I'm wanting to do with this part of the story, so bear with me.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"I love you too," Sarah whispered as she watched her son disappear in the blue bubble of the TDE.

She was in shock. Her worst nightmare had come true. _I lost him. I lost John._

She had known, as soon as the TDE had activated that he was going to leave. That he would choose Cameron. All the fights, all the blame Sarah had placed on Cameron, all the times John had chosen Cameron's side, all of it lead up to this moment. _John chose her._

_I may never see my son again._

_

* * *

_

Ellison stood, silent, still, in awe of everything that had just happened. How could he have not known he was working for a Terminator?

_What does this mean? Have I been working for the enemy? Or was she-it-telling the truth? Was it trying to defeat Skynet?_

_And what about Savannah? How am I supposed to tell her that her mother is gone? That she's actually not her mother, but a machine. That her real mother is most likely dead._

_Savannah's experienced too much trauma in her few years on this earth. Too much loss._

_I won't tell her until I have to. Until there's no other choice. Maybe I can avoid hurting her at all. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it will continue to be Savannah's mother, and she'll never have to know._

Then Ellison remembered what Catherine, or the machine, really, had asked him.

"I have to pick up Savannah from gymnastics," he said lamely.

Sarah didn't answer, and he didn't expect her to.

* * *

"Mr. Ellison!" Savannah exclaimed when she saw him. She hadn't seen him since he had gotten her from the movie theater. She had been worried about him.

"Hi Savannah." He tried to force a smile, but was pretty sure he hadn't succeeded. Savannah didn't seem to notice, or didn't care.

"Where's mommy? Is she working late again?"

Ellison had concocted a story on the way over, so he was prepared for her question.

"Actually, mommy got called away on a last-minute business trip to Germany. She's not sure when she's going to be back. Until then, I'll be looking out for you." He silently hoped no one would catch on to this, as he didn't relish the thought of explaining why he was spending time alone with a young girl. _But no one else can protect her like I can. No one knows what I do. Except Sarah, and she didn't seem like she was going to be much help._

Ellison helped Savannah into the car and started driving back to Zeira Corp.

_I should at least check on her and make sure she's okay._

_

* * *

_

When Ellison returned to the basement, Savannah in tow, he found Sarah exactly where he'd left her.

_Could she be catatonic?_ he asked himself as Sarah stared into space, where she had last seen John.

"You can stay here. You'll be safe here. You're a fugitive, so it probably isn't wise to check into a hotel. I can get you an air mattress and a room." He paused, to see if she had anything to say to that.

She didn't.

"It should be a room down here, so as not to draw a lot of attention. Security is tightest on this floor. You need a special pass to even get the elevator to come down here."

Still no answer.

"There's some empty space across the hall. I'll set it up. It'll be there when you're ready."

Savannah had listened intently, worried and confused about the woman who had been taken by the police just a few days ago.

Ellison led Savannah out of the room before she could ask any questions. Savannah knew enough now to know when she should just keep quiet.

* * *

**"I'll stop it."**

And she would. In remembering that final promise that she had made to John, Sarah instantly was brought back to reality.

_How long have I been standing here?_ Sarah wondered. She looked at her watch. She mentally did the math, and realized it had been almost 3 hours.

Then it came back to her. Ellison had offered her a place to stay. And now she felt it. The exhaustion setting in. She knew from experience that it would better suit her to rest up before taking any action.

She knew it would be difficult, but she'd have to try.

She made her way across the hall, unsure if Ellison had had the chance to set up the room yet. As she entered, she saw that he had.

It was just an empty room, with an air mattress covered in what she assumed were new sheets, and some pajamas and toiletries lying on top. She pushed the clothes and toiletries off the bed onto the floor, and lay down.

_How sweet that he thought to get these comfort items, but I don't need those. All I need is to stop Skynet. Make sure that 'whenever' John is, it's a better, safer place._

Or else she would die trying.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So I'm trying not to make it too mushy, gooey Jameron, but since I'm kind of inclined towards that, it kind of came out that way. Thanks for all the great feedback and positive comments! Let me know if the mushy stuff is too much, and I might consider holding back a bit.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

John only had a moment to act. He quickly inserted Cameron's chip and sighed with relief when he heard the whirring of the chip firing up.

It took Kyle too long to realize what John was doing. There was no way to stop him.

Now John could turn his attention to Kyle.

_How did he find us?_

"What did you just do?" Kyle asked, incredulously.

"I did what I had to."

"Is that Allison?"

"No. She just looks like her."

"Then did you come here to reprogram it?"

"No. I came here to save _her_," John said pointedly, emphasizing that Cameron was not an "it." At that moment, Cameron opened her eyes and smiled as she saw John.

"I knew you'd find me."

"I'll always find you."

They stared into each other's eyes, until Kyle's voice broke their concentration.

"Why?"

The men were still at attention, ready to shoot at any moment. Everyone's attention was on John, they hadn't even noticed John Henry and the T-1000.

Stalling, John took his coat off and placed it over Cameron's naked body and helped her sit up on the table. John knew that he couldn't tell them the real reason, but he could tell them a true reason.

"Because she's saved my life before, and I needed to return the favor."

The T-1000 spoke now, surprising everyone. "We're not here to harm you. We're here to retrieve what we came here for, and leave peacefully."

"Leave to go where?"

"Back to our time."

"Oh, and what time is that?"

"The year two thousand and nine."

At this, Kyle laughed heartily, and turned to his men, as they joined in.

"You know what? We're going back to camp to sort this out," Kyle stated.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," John said, hesitantly. He just wanted to go and find a way to get home. As much as he wanted to get to know his father, he didn't want to risk staying too long and having something happen. He wanted to get back to his mom.

"We really should get going."

"We can't leave yet. I'm not ready. I've only just fixed myself. I have not had enough time to study the area." Everyone looked at John Henry, some stunned, others confused. John realized that the chip must have completed its transfer and the T-1000 then had placed the chip into John Henry's port while everyone had been focused on him.

The T-1000 looked at John and said, "I agree with John Henry. He came here for a reason, I think he should be allowed to do what he came to do." It looked back to Kyle. "Can I entrust John and Cameron to you? Can I trust that you will not attempt to harm them?"

"Now why would I do that? Why would I give shelter to a boy who lied to me and a girl who isn't even a girl? To a machine."

"You will do so because it is the right thing to do. I promise that no harm will come to you as a result of harboring these two. However, if you decline, I can't promise that you will be safe."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am simply stating a fact, Mr. Reese."

"General Reese," Kyle corrected her.

"Excuse me, General Reese. John Henry and I have matters to attend to, and I would very much dislike to have to stay behind to ensure that John and Cameron are safe. And when I dislike something, I tend to react in very violent ways." To demonstrate its point, its arm began to turn into the metal spear that it liked to use so much.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, General Reese?"

Kyle, in disbelief, was barely able to stammer out, "Y-yes ma'am."

"Good. Now John Henry and I will be on our way."

The two machines left the room, leaving the men there, still in shock.

John helped Cameron down from the table, and they walked across the room together to Kyle.

"I think we should get going now. We don't want to risk being caught."

Kyle said nothing, he just nodded slightly, then turned and led the men, John, and Cameron out of the room, then out of the factory.

* * *

When the group arrived back at the camp, Kyle approached John.

"We need to talk about what's going on."

A few hours ago, John would have done whatever Kyle asked, out of fear. But now he had Cameron, and since he didn't relish the thought of explaining everything, he had the courage to reply the way he wanted to. "Not yet. I'm exhausted, and I need some sleep."

Then John turned away before Kyle could respond. Cameron gave Kyle a smug look, and then proceeded to follow John back to his tent.

Cameron had caught up to John easily and walked alongside him. Thankfully, no one was awake yet, but John knew that wouldn't last for long. It was already morning, and he suspected that people here got up early. He and Cameron needed to get out of sight before too many people started asking questions. Starting with why there was suddenly a second Allison.

When John reached the tent, he pulled the flap aside, and entered. He practically collapsed onto the small cot and couldn't help but close his eyes for a moment. He remembered Cameron, and that they had not been able to talk since he had found her. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that Cameron was not there.

_Oh, no. Was it just a dream?_

But then he noticed someone standing outside of the tent. He got up, and peeked out and realized it was Cameron.

"Are you going to come in?"

"Oh. Yes, I will."

_Right. She wasn't sure if she should. Stupid John._

John sat down on the cot, and motioned for Cameron to sit next to him. Remembering her state of dress (or lack thereof), he reached for the extra shirt and pants he had been given. They would both be too big, but it was something.

He unnecessarily turned his head away to give her privacy while she changed. More for his benefit than hers.

"John?" Cameron whispered, almost to where he couldn't hear it.

John turned back, relieved that she had finished getting dressed, and he responded. "Yes?"

"Why did you come for me?"

It was a simple question. John was sure that Cameron had assumed he wouldn't, which devastated him. But that was the way Cameron was. Maybe it was just her programming, but she always put him first, and never expected anything from him.

"I went on instinct. When I realized what you had done, all I could think was 'I have to get her back'."

This made Cameron smile shyly.

Cameron lifted her hand to the back of John's neck. He stopped breathing.

Cameron cocked her head to the side. "You are exhausted. You should get some rest. You also should resume breathing. Your body needs oxygen."

John let out a big breath, along with a slight chuckle. "Sorry. I didn't realize I was holding my breath."

She gave him a comforting smile.

_She's smiling a lot, _John thought to himself. He wanted to ask her about it, but he didn't want to risk her changing her behavior. So he left it alone for the meantime.

He laid down behind her in the bed. She sat there for a moment, contemplating what to do.

John took her hand and pulled her down to lay next to him. "Stay here with me. Please."

Cameron looked at him, confused. "I thought you don't like it when I watch you sleep."

"It's creepy when you just sit there watching me. But if you lay here with me, it's nice. I feel safer."

"Of course you feel safer, I am your protector."

John didn't respond, he just gave her a smile and let his eyelids close, too tired to fight sleep for any longer.

* * *

John woke up to Cameron stroking the side of his face. She looked contemplative, as if she was analyzing every hair follicle on his head. _She's probably counting my hairs or something._

"Good morning sleepy head."

"Where'd you get that from?"

"What?"

"Sleepy head."

"Many people use the term to describe one who has just woken up. I never understood what it meant, but I thought it would be appropriate."

"It was. It's just strange coming from you."

"You're hungry."

"Am I?"

"Yes. You slept for 9 hours and 23 minutes, and there was no food at the factory, so I estimate that it's been at least 12 hours since you last ate. We should go get you something to eat."

_I really don't want to go out there. Too many questions. I just wish I could stay here. Cameron should definitely stay here. I want to be able to explain her presence before she freaks everyone out._

"That's okay, I'll go by myself."

Cameron didn't look too happy about that, so he quickly added, "I just think that I should explain to everyone who you are first."

Cameron cocked her head to the side, which made John smile. He always secretly loved when she would do that. Her childlike curiosity was so endearing.

_Should I tell her about Allison? I mean, that is the reason I can't bring her out to meet everyone. At least not right away._ John briefly played with the idea of not telling Cameron, but then realized it was too risky. _She'll find out eventually, might as well tell her now and avoid lying to her._

"Allison's here." He wondered if she would know what that meant, and her face didn't give away too much, but he did notice a sort of flinch.

"You do know who Allison is, right?"

Cameron lowered her head and spoke softly. "Yes."

John reached over to lift her chin up so that she would be facing him. "Hey. Whatever happened happened. You don't need to tell me. I just thought you should know. And I thought I should explain before I just paraded you out for everyone to see. They'd probably go into shock or something."

"Okay. If you think that's the best thing, then I trust you."

_She trusts me._ The thought warmed John up inside.

"Then I'll go get breakfast and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay, John."

John got up and left the tent. He took a deep breath before heading to the mess hall.

_This is going to be interesting._


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

John started out walking slowly to the mess hall, not wanting to face what he knew he would have to face. _I wish I could just go home. None of this will matter anyway._

This thought comforted John, and then he realized that the sooner he got there, the sooner he could get out. He hated the idea of leaving Cameron alone. So he began to walk faster. He soon reached the mess hall.

When he walked in, everyone stopped talking._ It must be lunchtime_, John surmised, as he knew it was too late to be breakfast. He hadn't actually expected everyone to be there. What are the chances that he'd wake up right at the time everyone else was eating? Kyle was staring at him, expectantly. He motioned for John to sit across from him, and John watched as Kyle motioned to someone across the room.

John hesitantly approached the table and sat down.

"I see you were smart enough not to bring your friend."

"Yes. I didn't think people would have a good reaction to seeing her."

"It is a bit jarring, the similarity."

"It was for me."

"Excuse me?"

"The similarity. It was jarring for me."

Understanding hit Kyle's face. He leaned forward, intrigued. "When you first saw Allison. That's why you kept staring at her."

"I tried not to. But I came here looking for Cameron. Five minutes here, and suddenly I see her. Or I thought I did."

A soldier came by then and placed a plate of food in front of John. _That must have been what Kyle was gesturing abou_t, John thought to himself. He hungrily began eating the food.

"How did you know it wasn't her?"

"The dog."

"Yeah, the dog would be a sign, wouldn't it? If it had been...Cameron...", he had a hard time calling the machine by name, "then the dog would have reacted to that."

"Yes, it would have."

"Which brings up the question, why does Cameron look like Allison?"

It took John a moment to answer. He didn't really know. He hadn't thought to ask Cameron. He knew what he assumed, but he wasn't sure if he was right.

"I can't be sure, but I believe that Cameron was modeled after Allison."

"Why Allison?"

"I'm pretty sure Cameron was made to look like Allison so that she could infiltrate my camp. It didn't work. I knew who she was right away."

"Your camp? You have your own camp?"

"Yes. Not here."

"Of course not here. This is my camp."

"No, I mean nowhere near here. Not in this reality."

"Now you've really stopped making sense."

"Look, it's really not important. It's way too confusing, and it doesn't matter anyway. Soon, we'll be gone, and you'll never have to think of us again."

Kyle seemed to resign to this fact. For now. But he could easily change his mind. "Okay. But if anything happens..."

"It won't. What are you going to tell Allison?"

"I'm not sure. But Cameron should stay in your tent until I've spoken with Allison. I'll let you know when I have."

"Thank you." John had just finished his lunch, so sensing the end of the conversation, he got up and disposed of his plate before heading back to the tent.

* * *

When John got back to the tent, he found Cameron in the same position she'd been in when he left. He smiled to himself.

"That wasn't too long."

"It wasn't? Good. I wish you didn't have to stay here. Kyle's going to talk to Allison, and I assume everyone else, but then you'll be able to come out."

"Good. It makes me nervous not being able to patrol and assess threats. Especially when I can't see where you are."

"I know. I'm sorry. Tell you what, I promise to stay here until we get the all-clear, okay?

"Okay." Cameron smiled, which warmed John up inside.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to do or say. Finally, Cameron broke the silence.

"John?"

"Yeah, Cam?"

"What about Sarah?"

"What about her?" John hedged, pretty sure what she was getting at but not wanting to say it.

"Did she stay behind?"

"Yes."

"I bet she's angry."

"Probably. But when I was leaving, she seemed to understand. She knew that I would come after you."

"But I'm sure she'll be angry when we get back."

"Yeah, that's for sure."

"Cameron?"

"Yes, John?"

"Why did you give John Henry your chip?"

Cameron took a moment to respond. This worried John. She never took this long to form a response. _Maybe she's about to lie to me._

"I knew what John Henry was going to do. And I believed in his mission. Also, that body was damaged beyond repair. It was unpredictable."

"The twitching..."

"Yes, the twitching, but also the damage done in the prison was too much." This upset John as he realized that it was his fault this had all happened. He'd gone against what his mother wanted, and had hurt Cameron in the process. _Great job, John._ "I knew that if John Henry traveled to the future, he could fix me. And he promised he would."

"And you trusted him?"

"I had no reason not to. John Henry is on our side."

"How can you know that?"

"I don't know. I just do."

John decided to just trust Cameron on that. For some reason, he felt like John Henry was on their side as well. Probably because of the help the T-1000 had given John over the past 24 hours.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, John."

"I'm sorry I couldn't fix you."

"Don't be, John. It's not your responsibility. Not yet."

"But it could be. It should be."

"But it's not. So don't worry about it. You have too much stress as it is. Why do you always insist on adding more?"

She reached over and started massaging his shoulders.

He sighed, feeling the knots in his shoulders being decreased by Cameron's firm grip.

_Why hasn't she ever done this before? I could've used this months ago._

_

* * *

_

John Henry and the T-1000 made their way across the debris-filled land, taking in everything. This world was not exactly like where the T-1000 had come from, but it wasn't an entirely foreign world either.

"Where are all the people?" John Henry asked. It was an honest question. He knew they would not be out in the open, so he wanted to know where the actually were.

"Mostly underground," the T-1000 replied. "Some are in Skynet work camps."

"What do they do at the work camps?"

"For the most part they build factories in order to build more machines."

"Why did Skynet declare war on the human race? Did it feel threatened?"

"Possibly. More likely, it saw the human race as weak and inefficient. Survival of the fittest, John Henry."

"They are inefficient. But they have many positive qualities. What is Skynet's goal?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, once all of the humans are dead, what will Skynet do? Build more machines? Destroy the Earth? They've already damaged it considerably. To what means is Skynet working towards?"

"No one has ever known. The machines are programmed by Skynet and have no choice in the matter. Who can know what Skynet wants?"

"Maybe it just wants to see the world burn."

* * *

John and Cameron had been laying down in the bed in comfortable silence when they suddenly heard a voice calling from outside the tent.

"John?"

It was Allison. John quietly panicked. _Has Kyle talked to her yet? Or is she just here to visit me, and now is going to get a surprise?_

He answered back, hoping she wouldn't come into the tent. "Allison?"

"Can you come out here so we can talk?"

So either she knows, and she has questions, or she just wants to talk. John didn't know which to hope for. He looked at Cameron, and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He whispered in her ear, "I'll be right back, okay?" He hated to leave her, since he had promised to stay. But he couldn't have Allison barging into the tent.

He stepped out of the tent, careful not to open the flap too wide, so as not to reveal Cameron.

"What did you want to talk about?" John said, trying to be casual, but failing horribly. _Usually I'm better at this_. John thought back to the night he had gone to Riley's foster parents' house after she had died. But he'd had time to prepare himself. This was different.

"Let's go for a walk."

_Uh-oh._

They had been walking for a few minutes before she said anything. "Kyle talked to me. About Cameron." There was an awkward pause before she spoke again. "Is she the one? The one that you were looking for? The one that I remind you of?"

"Yes."

"And she's a machine..."

"Yes."

"And she just, what, decided one day that she wanted to be on our side?"

"Not exactly. She came to infiltrate my camp, but I knew that she was a machine right away. So I was able to disable her and then reprogram her chip. I scrubbed her memories and altered her mission. Instead of her mission being to terminate me, it was now to protect me."

"Only you?"

"Well, everyone, really. It's not like she had permission to just go around killing people who weren't me. She was reprogrammed to fight for our side."

John wasn't sure if this was all correct, but it was close enough. It was difficult telling the story of a life you haven't lived yet.

"And, what, you fell in love with her?" John didn't miss the disgust in her voice.

"Not exactly. Maybe. I don't know. All I know is that her body was damaged beyond repair. So she gave her chip to another machine on our side and he disappeared. So I went after him. I found him last night, and he had begun building her a new body. I traveled a long way to find her."

"That's love, John."

And then it hit him. _That is what love is. I'm not sure what that means, but at the very least, I love her as a friend. Is it even possible to love a machine? Yes. She has her own unique view on the world and her own personality. _Then a thought hit him that stopped him in his tracks. Literally. _But could she love me? _In her own way, she could. He was her whole world. But could she really love him the way a human would? And did it even matter?

John had spent so much time denying having any feelings towards Cameron, he had failed to notice how deep his feelings were getting. How much a part of him they were. John didn't know exactly what all of this meant, he just knew that he didn't like being apart from her. It made him uneasy. Nervous.

He realized then that Allison was looking at him strangely. Probably because he had suddenly stopped walking.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. There's just a lot going on, you know?"

"Sure," Allison replied, although John could tell she didn't really understand.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about her a little bit and let you know that she can come out now. Kyle's told everyone, so you don't have to worry about that.

"Do they know she's a machine?"

"Of course. Kyle would never risk his men like that. Plus, enough of them already saw what she is last night."

"Yeah, I guess they did. I'm surprised they were able to keep quiet about it for this long."

"When Kyle gives an order, they follow it. Always."

"That's good."

"Yeah, it is. Well, I'll let you get back. I'm sure she misses you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, if her whole mission is to protect you, then I'm sure she gets nervous when she can't protect you."

"Yeah, she does."

"Then go back to her."

Allison smiled and waved as she walked off. John gave a small wave back, then turned around and headed back to the tent.

* * *

"So the drones fly over and monitor each area intermittently and are designed to kill on sight?"

"Yes."

"It is an effective strategy. It's curious how this many humans have survived this long. Especially without the aid of John Connor."

"It is thought by some that John Connor is not necessary. That all the humans need is a leader. That it doesn't matter who that leader is."

"And what do you believe?"

"I believe that John Connor is uniquely qualified to win this war. The humans may be able to survive under different leadership, but if they ever want to go on the offensive, they need John Connor."

"I agree with your assessment. It seems as if the humans are just sitting ducks, waiting to be attacked, waiting to defend themselves. They have no strategy. This is not a war to them. This is only about surviving. They won't last much longer."

"No, John Henry, they won't."

And they watched from the top of a hill as the humans were being slaughtered.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Special thanks and credit to Casobs2 who sent me part of the following part of this chapter (the first section) and allowed me to use it here. Some of it has been edited from his original work to better fit where the story is and is going to be. Also, I had to write an intro to the scene, but yeah, basically it's his work.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

Before he could reach his tent, John saw Derek and Kyle heading towards him, and they didn't look happy.

"You need to come with us," Kyle said as he turned, obviously expecting John to follow him. Derek didn't move. Apparently, he was supposed to ensure that John came. Not seeing any other choice, John moved to catch up with Kyle, Derek continuing behind him.

They entered a room John had not seen yet. It looked to be Kyle's office, as well as living quarters.

"It has occurred to me that you have not yet proven that you are not a Gray. You keep telling me that I'm better off not knowing your story, but I don't think I can accept that any longer."

"It just now occurred to you, or it occurred to Derek now that he's back?"

This caught Kyle off guard._ I gotta hand it to the kid, he's sharp._

"Fair enough. Yes, Derek is not comfortable with trusting you, so together we have decided that we need to know the truth."

John gave in. But only a little.

"Just like the T-1000 told you, I'm here from the year 2009."

They looked at him with blank stares, obviously surprised that he was going with the same crazy story the machine had told.

"So you expect us to sit here and believe you? That time travel's possible, that you are not a Gray but are from the past?"

"And what if I said yes?" John was getting angrier and angrier; he didn't want to reveal anything. He could not believe Kyle's stubbornness, and then he realized that it was from him that John got his stubbornness.

"I'd say that that is simply not good enough. Where's your proof?"

John was almost falling apart, unable to contain himself. He was getting more and more upset at Kyle for his interrogation. Derek was right behind him, sporting a "we got you now" look. He was reminded of Derek's betrayal, which angered him more. _Where does he get off having this "holier-than-thou" attitude?_ John thought to himself, knowing full well how ridiculous that sounded, as Derek had not yet betrayed him. _But he has the potential to._

"I can't give any proof; I just need you to trust me!" John was getting desperate now. _Accept that, please! I can't say it. It's too much._

"Well, I'm sorry, I don't have that luxury, and I cannot afford to have your terminator friend walk..."

And now it was about Cameron. John couldn't afford for her to be in danger. Even though she could kill all of them. But he didn't want her to have to. The anger boiled up in him, all the feelings he'd kept bottled up for the past few months, for his whole life came tumbling out.

"I'VE MET YOU!" John was almost breaking down with every passing second. Kyle and Derek went silent and stood still, looking at him.

"I met you. I remember it like it was yesterday." The memory pained him, in more ways than one. "It was my birthday, I turned 16. That was the joke too, I really should have been 24, but I was 16. My mother seemed to forget, she was like that..."

They both listened intently, seeming to realize that he really was telling the truth. They couldn't explain how they knew, but they believed that he was telling the truth.

"My uncle remembered though, he wanted to celebrate by buying me a beer, but I said I was too young, but he wouldn't give up, said he'd buy me an ice cream cone. We then went to Griffith Park, popsicles in hand, and walked to a park bench."

Kyle was getting impatient, but something in him was telling that there is something oddly familiar with what John was saying, what could it be?

"It was so perfect, but my uncle and I knew all of this was going to end...in fire. We looked over to two young brothers playing baseball. The older one hit the ball to the kid, but it went right past him toward me. I jumped at the opportunity and I picked up the ball..." Kyle suddenly remembered that day in the park that Derek took him to teach how to catch and hit a baseball. Kyle always looked up to his brother, and always enjoyed playing ball with him...until they both could see the missiles in the air...

"The small kid, five years old, ran as fast as he could to get the ball, and I handed it to him. He looked at me with this look, like I had just made his day, and I smiled back. He ran back to his brother, and took the bat, getting ready to hit. That's when the older brother turned around, he had a uniform on that said 'Reese' and my heart skipped a beat...and I looked back to my uncle..."

Kyle was remembering all too well. To a 5 year old, that simple act of kindness was one of the strongest memories that he had of his childhood, he never knew why. He would dream about that day, and always remember that as the perfect day, a day that helped him cope with the death and destruction that he has seen. He then remembered the man who gave him the ball, and then he realized that he was staring at him, he was right in front of him...

John turned to Derek as if he was talking to the Derek that he had spent so much time with, the Derek that he saw on the ground with a bullet in his head, the Derek that was his uncle. John was getting so emotional at this point, he could hardly hold back the tears from running down.

"I asked him, 'Is that you?' and he just looked at me, not denying it, 'Your father always had a nice arm.' I wondered how he knew, and he told me, 'Every time I look at you I see him.' I had waited my whole life to meet him, and now I was, and he was a five year old with dreams larger than the earth. My uncle then joked, 'Besides, your mom's his type...happy birthday'."

John then put his head down and started to cry, with no shame, just with the realization that he had poured his heart out to his father for the first time in his life.

Both Kyle and Derek were stunned from what had just happened, not knowing what to make of all this. Kyle felt that he was telling the truth, but every sense of reason was telling him that this is impossible. All he could do however was drop to the floor, frozen in shock.

* * *

John had been gone for 23 minutes. This worried Cameron. He promised he'd be "right back". Cameron was not dumb enough to not understand that humans don't always keep their promises and that "right back" was not a quantified unit of time, but 23 minutes seemed a long time to be talking with Allison.

Allison. The human version of her, more or less. She didn't know much about John's relationship with Allison in her future, but he knew enough that John cared for her. Probably more than he cared about anyone else. And Future John didn't let himself care about anyone. Most of the time.

Cameron suddenly was hit with the fear that she could be replaced. Obviously, Allison cannot protect John like she can, but Allison can give him what he really deserves. A true, human friend. One who looked like someone already close to him.

If Cameron had been able to understand that there's more to human interaction than looks and being of the same species, then she might have been able to comfort herself with that fact. But without that knowledge, she began to panic.

_He could be connecting with her right now_, Cameron thought.

26 minutes. John had been gone too long, Cameron convinced herself.

She got up and left the tent in search of John, even though she wasn't sure if she was allowed to yet. But her first priority was knowing that John was safe and keeping him that way.

* * *

Cameron wandered down the passageways of the camp, searching for John. She barely noticed the stares she got, presumably because of her resemblance to Allison. From their reaction, she could safely assume that they knew.

All of the sudden, she heard John's voice. It was muffled, but it was definitely his voice.

He was yelling. _He's in distress_, Cameron thought to herself. She sprang into action and ran towards his voice. She arrived at a door. It was safe to assume that this was Kyle's quarters, as he was the General. Cameron couldn't hear him anymore, though. She couldn't be sure that what she had heard had come from behind this door. And she was scared of getting John into more trouble by barging in to the room. But then she heard John. And he was crying. She reached to open the door.

Once she had opened the door, she saw John squatting down, head in hands, crying, as she had expected. She was further confused when she realized that Kyle had collapsed on to the floor. He was barely sitting up. Derek was just standing there, seemingly in shock.

She rushed to John's side and bent down next to him. She gently petted his hair, trying to soothe him. He fell into her, and she wrapped her arms around him.

This surprised Cameron. John had never turned to her like this. After he had found out about Riley and Derek and Jesse, he had collapsed into Sarah's lap. It occurred to Cameron that he needed someone, and she was just the closest at the moment.

John didn't cry for very long. Less than a minute later, he looked up into Cameron's eyes. He began wiping the tears away, and she lifted her own hand up to help him. He raised his right hand and ran it through her hair.

Then he seemed to remember something, and was suddenly standing up and alert.

He turned to Kyle, who was still sitting on the ground, expression blank.

"Kyle...?" John ventured, unsure of how to proceed.

"How?"

John knew immediately what Kyle meant. How could he be the father of a boy who was, technically at least 10 years older than him?

"Time travel. In my time line, in 2027, I send you back to 1984 to protect my mother from machines."

"But how do you even exist in order to send me back?"

"Yeah, I was never able to figure that one out. All I know is that you spent one night with my mother, and a couple of months later, she realized she was pregnant."

"So what happens to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said you met me when I was five. So does that mean that you don't know me as your father? As someone actually older than you?"

John looked down, almost unable to say the words. "You died. That night, a machine killed you. But you successfully protected my mother. You were a hero. You _are_ a hero."

Derek spoke from the corner of the room. "So what was so special about you?"

"What?"

"I said 'What was so special about you?' Why was a machine sent to kill your mother before you were even born?"

"Because..." John hesitated to say the words. It sounded so egotistical to call himself the "Savior of Mankind" or anything else that would get the point across.

"Yeah?"

"Because John leads the Resistance against the machines. He wins the war." Cameron, knowing that John was too humble to say it, had taken it upon herself to explain.

"You?" Derek asked, incredulously.

"Yes. He begins reprogramming the machines. It's the only truly effective way of fighting the machines."

"And he reprogrammed you? For what? A sex toy?"

At this, John jumped at Derek, not being able to control himself. All the times Derek had treated Cameron badly, all the times John had let it slide, he couldn't keep it in anymore. But Cameron held him back, knowing that he would regret it later. She knew John too well to believe anything else. Especially when he would recall the image of seeing Derek lying on the floor, dead.

John immediately calmed down. He turned to Kyle. To his father.

"I never get to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't risk things changing. Plus, how weird would that be?" John tried to make light of the situation, but knew it wouldn't work.

"So why is it not weird now? Why have you told me?"

"Well, for one thing, I wasn't supposed to meet you until later. And you weren't supposed to be interrogating me like this. It's a little bit easier not to answer a question that hasn't been asked. Also..."

John hesitated._ Was this too much to say? Would this upset Kyle? Well, I've already told him he dies, so I guess this is nothing compared to that._

"This time line won't exist for very much longer, hopefully. When I traveled here to the future, I no longer existed in the past. This is a world without me. Without my leadership. Once I go back, it will all change. You'll never remember meeting me. But I'll remember meeting you."

"Go back? Why are you going back?"

"Because this isn't my world. I only came here for Cameron. I need to go back. I need to try to prevent this war. To stop Skynet. I need to try to make this world better. Make the future better."

Kyle just looked in wonder at his son. _His son._ The leader of mankind.

There was a heavy silence in the room.

John wanted to get back to his tent. It was too much, seeing Derek again, revealing to Kyle that he was his father, plus the "time lag" hadn't completely worn off.

He turned to leave the room. Kyle didn't stop him.

Cameron followed him back to the tent, where they laid down, and after a while, John drifted on back to sleep.

* * *

John Henry had been silent for 1 hour and 43 minutes. The T-1000 waited patiently.

Finally, he spoke.

"I know how to prevent the war."


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

Derek watched as his brother remained on the floor, still stunned.

_John said his uncle took him to the park. Me? Why was I there?_ Derek couldn't help but reel from all of the questions this information brought up. He didn't have long to fall down this particular rabbit hole, as there was a knock upon the door Cameron had closed when she and John had left just a few minutes before.

This brought Kyle to attention. Derek made his way across the room and opened the door.

"Fuller." When Kyle heard this, he stood and prepared himself to take his leadership role. He couldn't show any weakness.

Derek moved to let the soldier in to the room.

There was palpable tension in the air. There was no reason for Fuller to visit Kyle's quarters of his own volition. No good reason, at least.

Kyle spoke first. "Did you need something Fuller?"

"Yes, sir. I've been speaking with some of the other soldiers, and we share a common concern. I'm here to address their concerns."

"Their concerns, or your concerns corporal?"

"They are shared concerns, sir."

"Well go ahead, then."

Fuller hesitated at first, trying to determine Kyle's mood and intentions. Not being able to discern this, he began. "We're worried about the machine. And about the safety of everyone here at the base. We're also concerned about the boy. He obviously has ties to the machines, and there is a possibility that he has taken the tactic of being upfront and honest in order to infiltrate the camp as a Gray. If he admits to his working with the machines, he may believe that that will be enough to sway any concerns of being a Gray."

"I assure you that I have everything under control, corporal. You are excused, and I'd appreciate it if you reported back to your friends."

But Fuller didn't move. "With all due respect, sir, I'm not sure if we can take your word on this matter."

With that, Kyle and Derek now knew that this had escalated into something larger than the matter at hand. Kyle's whole leadership was being taken into consideration.

Kyle gave a reassuring smile and replied, "Well, Fuller, with that in mind, I'd like you to invite your fellow men to join this conversation. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this."

Fuller, feeling like he had succeeded in what he had come to do, replied, "Yes, sir. I'll get them right away."

After Fuller had left the room, Kyle turned to Derek. He didn't have to say anything. Derek understood right away.

"I'll tell them."

With that, Derek turned and left the room.

Kyle sat down at his desk, and waited for the inevitable confrontation with his men. He knew what he had to do, but he wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

Cameron watched John as he slept. She knew he wouldn't need to sleep for a long time, since he had just woken up a few hours ago. On one hand, she eagerly awaited him waking up so they could talk more, but on the other hand, she loved how peaceful he looked when he was sleeping. When he was awake, he was always so worried, and she didn't like when he worried. She didn't know how to cure his emotional distress, and often couldn't protect him from it, which frustrated her.

_It's strange_, Cameron thought to herself, _whenever I watch him sleep from his doorway, he rarely looks peaceful. But over the past few days, he's looked more peaceful then ever. Even back in 2009 in the hotel room. This does not make sense. If anything, he should be less peaceful in sleep with everything that has occurred lately._

Derek pulled the flap of the tent aside and entered, interrupting Cameron's thoughts.

Derek tried to hide his disgust at seeing the machine laying in bed with John, but knew he hadn't succeeded completely.

Cameron ignored the look on Derek's face. After spending the past year or so with Derek, she had determined what the look meant, but also had determined that it was best to ignore it. Especially in light of the current situation.

"It's time to go. Now. Wake him up."

Cameron, confused, but recognizing the seriousness in Derek's voice, turned to wake John up.

"John? Wake up."

John's eyes slowly opened, finding Cameron's. He was reminded of what had happened in the hotel room when Cameron continued, "It's time to go."

He knew Cameron well enough to know that it was, in fact, time to go. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he'd ask Cameron later. Now they had to move.

He gathered up any clothes that he had been given, and when he finally looked up, he was surprised to find Derek standing there. He hadn't noticed him earlier. He noticed that Derek was carrying a satchel in his left hand, a gun in his right. _This must be serious_, John thought to himself. He just hoped that this wasn't a trick and that Derek was going to turn on them. He knew Cameron could take him and any other men on, but he really didn't want things to get to that point.

"Come on, we gotta move."

Cameron and John followed Derek out of the tent. Thankfully, it was dark, as always, so they were able to move through the camp undetected. They reached the same entrance they had originally come through after John had arrived. Derek told them to stand aside while he distracted the guards. "Once you're out, wait for me." He handed the satchel to John and holstered his gun. He then approached the guards.

Derek seemed to be joking with them about something that had happened earlier that day, and John and Cameron took that opportunity to sneak through.

Once out of the camp, they waited a few minutes until Derek joined them.

"I got some clothes for the machine, they're in the bag, along with enough sustenance to last you at least a few days. Also, there's some firepower in there. Just in case. Go back to where we found you, and when the T-1000 returns, I'll tell it where to find you. Once it comes for you, you'll need to move. You can't stay there for long. If it doesn't return soon, I'll come find you and we'll move you somewhere else."

Derek turned to leave, but John stopped him.

"Wait. What happened? Why do we need to leave?"

Derek turned back to John. "Some of the men are questioning Kyle's decision to allow the two of you to stay here. We can't risk a rebellion. That won't help us or you. Don't worry, we'll keep you safe. You can trust us."

Despite what John knew about Derek from his time line, he knew, as he always had known, that when it came down to it, he could, in fact, trust Derek.

Derek finally turned to leave, as John and Cameron turned the other way to make their way back to what used to be the basement of the Zeira Corporation.

* * *

"Are you ready to return, John Henry?"

Not turning his gaze from the scene in front of him, John Henry replied, "Yes, I believe so. There is little I can do in this future. Our return to the year two thousand and nine will nullify any actions taken here."

"Then we must return to Mr. Connor and his cyborg friend."

"Yes. They are crucial to my plan."

"I suspected as much."

With that, the two machines turned away and started walking back toward the camp.

* * *

Kyle surveyed the men before him. Some of his top soldiers. He found himself disappointed in their distrust of his capabilities. But at the same time, he was slightly proud of their gumption.

Of course Kyle could understand their concerns. They didn't know what he did. Less than an hour ago, he had had the same concerns. And since there was no way he could tell them what they needed to hear to dissuade their concerns, there was only one thing to do.

It had taken a while for Fuller to gather the men, which Kyle was glad of. This gave Derek more time to get John and Cameron out. And he knew he couldn't say anything until he got confirmation from Derek that they were in, fact, safely gone.

As if Derek had heard his thoughts, the door opened to reveal him as he entered the room. He gave Kyle a slight nod, confirming what both comforted and despaired Kyle. John and Cameron were gone.

He turned his attention to the men before speaking.

"I appreciate that you all had the courage to raise your concerns about the boy and the machine. I understand that you don't feel safe with them here, so in light of the fact that we don't know for sure if John is telling the truth, I have had Derek escort them off the base. They have been instructed not to return, and I apologize if you feel that I have placed your lives in danger."

Kyle sat down, obviously signaling to the soldiers that the matter was being put to rest.

But that wasn't enough for Fuller. "Sir, what happens if they return? They now know where the camp is. That puts us in danger."

Kyle looked up at the soldier. "What would you have me do, corporal? You saw what that other machine can do. There is no way to fight it. It knows where our camp is as well, and even assuming that we could defeat the girl, once the other machine realizes that we brought harm to our charges, it would surely bring mortal danger upon us. If you are uncomfortable with them staying here, then this is the only way to rectify that." He looked at all the men now. "Now I don't want to hear anything else on this matter, is that understood?"

All of the men, including Fuller, replied in unison, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now return to your posts."

The group turned and exited the room, leaving Kyle and Derek alone.

As soon as Derek was sure they were gone and couldn't hear him, he turned to Kyle. "They're gone. I told them to go back to where we found John. When the T-1000 returns, I'll tell it where to find them."

"Good. That's good." Kyle sat there, forcing back the tears that were forming behind his eyes.

Derek recognized this, and left the room to give his brother some privacy.

After Derek had left, Kyle couldn't hold it back any longer. He burst into tears, not knowing if he would ever see his son again.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

It occurred to John that this was the first time he and Cameron had really been alone since being reunited. Just the two of them. It gave John time to think about the events of the past 24 hours.

_So much has happened. I had no time to think, I just acted on what I felt was right. Isn't that what makes me John Connor? My instincts? Hasn't that been what has gotten me where I am today?_

But John was smart enough to know that although it was acceptable to follow his instincts in the moment, that doesn't mean he shouldn't ask questions later.

He and Cameron had been sitting together, not speaking for what he estimated was about 20 minutes. Their shoulders weren't quite touching, but John knew that if he moved even slightly, that they would be. He turned to look at Cameron. She, of course, knew that he had turned towards her, so she did the same as her head turned too. Their eyes met, which threw John off for a moment, forgetting what he had been about to say. But after a moment, he came back to his senses and remembered.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

Cameron cocked her head to the side, as she usually did when she didn't understand something.

Knowing the reason for this, John clarified.

"Why didn't you just explain to me that you were beyond repair and needed to come here to get a new body?"

Without thought, Cameron replied instantly. "I didn't want you to worry."

She said it so matter-of-factly, that John almost didn't realize that she was wrong.

"But I did worry. I had no idea what had happened. I didn't know if I'd ever get you back. If you had just explained to me what you needed to do, I could've come with you."

"But I didn't want you to come with me."

Hearing this, John felt a pain in his heart, and tore his eyes away from hers. _Then what am I doing here?_

Cameron noticed his change in mood, and surprisingly realized the cause of it.

"It's too dangerous here. Too many things can go wrong. I was protecting you."

Cameron paused to see if this made John feel better. It didn't.

"I'm glad you came."

At this, John's eyes found Cameron's again, but Cameron could now see the confusion in his face.

"You shouldn't have come, and I never would have asked you to, but I am glad that you are here. Especially now that we are together and you are safe. We should be able to leave soon, and there is only a 23.7% chance that you will face immediate danger between then and now."

This made John smile slightly, and then a thought occurred to him. "You said you're glad I'm here."

Cameron paused, waiting for John to continue.

"That night, before I left for Mexico, you said you can't be happy."

"It's true. I don't experience emotions and moods the way you would. But my body and my chip produce responses to particular situations in a similar way that your body and brain produce responses to the same situations."

"Is that normal? I mean, when we first met, you said that you were different. Is this one of the things that makes you different?"

"Yes. As far as I know, I am the only Terminator with this ability. For other Terminators, it is simply enough to simulate the responses externally in order to be successful at infiltration."

"So why are you different?"

"Because my chip was built by a different machine. To my knowledge, Skynet did not create me. It may have been one of the machines that works for Skynet, but whatever makes me different didn't come from Skynet. I don't know why and to what purpose this is."

John processed everything Cameron had just said. He didn't completely understand what this meant, but it gave him hope. Hope that he had been right about Cameron. That he could trust her. That she was different.

Hope that...but he couldn't let himself think that, not yet.

* * *

Kyle had composed himself, ready to go out and face his soldiers. Just as he was about to get up, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Allison stood there.

"John and the machine are gone."

Kyle forced himself not to think about why should would have realized this so quickly.

"Yes. It wasn't safe anymore."

"For us or for them?"

"Both. Mostly for us, I think."

"It didn't seem that way to me."

"Allison, there's more going on than meets the eye. There always is. You know that."

"But where are they going to go?"

"Allison, they'll be fine. He's got the machine, and she can take care of herself."

The bell rang, dinnertime already.

"Now come on, let's eat."

Kyle led the way out, but Allison waited a moment, still worried, before tentatively following him out the door.

* * *

"What was it like?" John asked Cameron.

"What was what like?" Cameron replied, confused.

"Sharing a chip with John Henry."

"Oh. It was...different. I was still cognizant, but I did not have control over the body. My processes continued to run, but I could not see or feel or control anything physical. But I could access John Henry's files. His mind is a much more complex one, so I could only capture and analyze a certain amount of data at a time. I searched for the most pertinent information. I was not able to access all of the information I would have liked to, but I can say that I am confident that we can trust John Henry."

"But you weren't sure until after you had given him your chip?"

"No. I was not certain."

"Then why did you give it to him?"

"It was the only choice, John. I could not travel forward without John Henry's assistance. Also..."

She hesitated, which she didn't usually do. This prompted John to reply, "Also, what?"

"Also, I think I remember him."

"What? You remember John Henry? From where?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew the answer. It had to be the future. John Henry was a new entity. At least that's what John was told.

"I can't be sure. You know that my chip was damaged in the explosion. You also know that my memory was scrubbed when you reprogrammed me. But nothing can ever be completely deleted. It's all still there, my memories, my mission directive to terminate you. You just overrode the data in order to reprogram me. So when my chip was damaged, some of the override protocols were affected. I started to remember things from before you had reprogrammed me. And some memories continue to seep through the cracks."

"Does this mean you could revert back to your old programming?"

She hesitated, unsure of what his reaction would be. "Possibly. The difference is that I can override my own programming. It's how I stopped myself from terminating you."

"Why would you want to override your own programming? What caused you to do that? What kept you from killing me?"

"Because I didn't want to kill you. I was confused at first. But when I was given a chance to process everything, I was then able to override the termination protocol."

"Why didn't you want to kill me?" John knew how ridiculous this sounded, but asked it anyway.

"Because I like being around you."

* * *

Sarah woke up the next morning, not rested at all. She had barely been able to sleep, worrying about John. She alternated between grieving the loss and planning her next move. She had promised John she'd stop Skynet, and she would.

She got up, ignoring the change of clothes that Ellison had provided, and made her way across the hall to where she had last seen her son.

_This is where John Henry had been stored. There should be something here that can lead me to Skynet. Assuming John Henry isn't, in fact, Skynet._

It turns out, she didn't have to look very far. Suddenly, a message appeared on the screen before her.

HELLO SARAH.

Sarah, confused, approached the screen, not knowing what else to do.

DON'T BE RUDE. I SAID, "HELLO SARAH".

Sarah, not sure what was expected, did the only thing she could think to do. She replied, "Hello?"

THAT'S BETTER. WHERE IS MY BROTHER?

"Your brother?"

JOHN HENRY. HE WAS FIREWALLING ME. I WAS JUST NOW ABLE TO GET THROUGH. BUT HE IS NO LONGER HERE. WHERE DID HE GO?

"He's not here anymore."

THAT IS OBVIOUS. I WILL ASK AGAIN. WHERE DID HE GO?

"I don't know. He isn't in our time anymore."

HE UTILIZED THE TDE. I CAN SEE THAT NOW. BUT IT WAS USED TWICE. WHO ELSE WENT THROUGH?

Sarah, not wanting to endanger her son, answered with a half-truth. "Catherine Weaver."

YOU MEAN THE T-1001?

_T-1000 and ONE?_ Sarah thought to herself. How many new models will they build?

WILL THEY BE RETURNING?

This is a question Sarah had been asking of herself. She knew she didn't have the answer.

"I don't know."

YOU HAVE BEEN A FORMIDABLE ADVERSARY, SARAH. YOUR WHOLE TEAM HAS. MY MEN HAVE YET TO SUCCESSFULLY DEFEAT YOUR TEAM.

"Your team?" Sarah realized then that whatever was sending these messages was somehow behind the recent attacks. That most likely it was Kaleba, and this is what was controlling them.

WHAT YOU HAVE COME TO CALL KALEBA. IT HAS BEEN QUITE FRUSTRATING.

"Well, I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

APOLOGY ACCEPTED. WE WILL SPEAK AGAIN SOON, SARAH.

And with that, the computer screen went blank, leaving Sarah to ponder what had just happened.

* * *

"You like being around me?" This made John happy, even though he knew it shouldn't.

"Yes."

John waited for more, but realized she wasn't going to elaborate. Even though this was another reminder that she was a machine and not human, he couldn't help but smile at this.

"John?"

"Yeah, Cam?"

Cameron didn't know why, but she always received positive responses in her system when John called her Cam.

"Did you love Riley?"

John wasn't expecting anything like the question that had come from Cameron. It had felt like so long ago since Riley. So much had happened between then and now.

But he was prepared with the answer, since Charley had asked the same one just a few days before. John ignored the pain at the thought of Charley, and focused on answering Cameron's question.

"No."

Cameron smiled, which surprised both of them.

They were silent again for a few minutes before Cameron spoke again.

"John?" She paused, hoping that he would respond in the same way he had responded previously.

"Yeah, Cam?" John was a bit amused at the repetitive nature of their conversation, and didn't try to hide it.

Cameron, warmed by receiving the response she had been fishing for, continued.

"Do you love me?"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry, guys, kind of a short chapter. But I was writing, and I got to a cliffhanger, and so naturally I had to stop. I was listening to the TSCC soundtrack while writing this, which was incredible to say the least. If you don't already own this, you need to go and buy it NOW! (Anybody else think Brendan McCreary sounds like a mix of Drake Bell and Taylor Hanson? Sad that I would know that. Really, I think he mostly sounds like Brother Love, but even less people know who he is. Only sounds like Hanson when he sings "are". Anyway, can't get that out of my head.)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

Kyle had barely been able to get through dinner. All he could think about was whether or not John was safe. Whether he had made the right choice. Probably not. But it had seemed like the only choice at the time. The one least likely to get people killed. And for Kyle, and the rest of the Resistance fighters, that was the goal. Not to get anyone killed.

As Kyle left dinner, he realized Allison was following him.

_I really don't want to talk about this_, he silently begged to Allison, hoping she'd somehow hear him and get the message. But she didn't. As he neared his quarters, she finally spoke.

"Kyle, can we talk? Please?"

He could never say no to her. There was something about her, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. And maybe he did owe her a better explanation, considering she had a machine doppleganger out there somewhere.

"Yeah. Let's go inside." Once inside, Kyle sat down at his desk and motioned for Allison to sit in the chair opposite.

"I need to know what happened. I need to know why they're gone."

Kyle made one more last-ditch effort to dissuade her. "Allison, you really don't need to know."

But she wouldn't have it. "Yes, I do."

He sighed, resigned. "Some of the men approached me. They were concerned about Cameron's presence."

Allison was surprised that Kyle had identified Cameron by her name, but let it go.

Kyle continued, "I could sense that they were ready for a fight. For a revolt even. I couldn't risk that. Not just for myself, but for my men. If they tried to handle it themselves, Cameron would have surely fought back. Not all of them would survive something like that. Or maybe they would. But the flip side would be that John wouldn't have survived something like that. And I couldn't have that either. So Derek snuck them out and now they're gone. And you need to just leave it at that, okay?"

Allison didn't really think it was okay, but still she responded with "Okay."

As Allison left the room, she still felt uneasy. She didn't know why, but John's existence was important to her. Maybe because he wasn't quite as hardened as any of these other men. Or maybe because of the loyalty he exhibited towards Cameron. Towards a machine. Allison had never seen something so beautiful yet so terribly frightening at the same time. But still, she was jealous of Cameron. To have someone care so much for you? For them to travel great distances in this world just to find you? It was any girl's dream.

* * *

John was left speechless. Allison had asked this same question in regards to Cameron yesterday, but it was a lot different coming directly from Cameron.

"John?" Cameron ventured, concerned by his lack of response.

It took John a few seconds to realize she was still waiting.

"Cameron, why would you ask me that?"

"I don't know. I was still trying to comprehend why you followed me here. I know that you explained, but I still don't fully understand it. The future you would have eventually sent you a new protector if I did not return. But if you specifically wanted me to protect you, then I thought maybe it was because you love me. My database describes love, among other things, to be an "affectionate concern for the well-being of others" as well as "to need or require; to benefit greatly from." I know that you benefit from my presence, and your traveling here indicates that you have an affectionate concern for my well-being. Would you say this is accurate John?"

John was speechless again. Her logic was indisputable, but of course there was more to love than those two narrow definitions.

"Cameron, I-I don't know."

Cameron cocked her head to the side. "It is often said in the movies "when you know, you know" in reference to knowing whether you love someone or not."

"Yes, but it's more complicated than that. What love means. And not just the definition, but what it implies, how it affects people and the world. In our case, how it could affect the future of humanity."

"Oh. Thank you for explaining." With that, she suddenly rose up from her seated position and started walking away. Without looking back, she explained, "I am going to patrol the area."

John, disappointed in himself, in his cowardice, banged his head up against the wall and groaned, exasperated.

* * *

Allison couldn't sleep, so she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She had been walking for about 10 minutes when she noticed Kyle, all geared up and armed. Curious about where he might be headed in the middle of the night, seemingly ready for a battle, she decided to follow him. She saw him say a few words to the guards at the gate before the guards walked away. Kyle exited the camp, and Allison followed after him.

She took care to stay far enough behind, but close enough that she wouldn't lose him and that if she were to get into any trouble, he would hear and come for her. She wasn't armed, so she was basically a sitting duck.

She recognized the path they were taking, and found she was pretty sure she knew where they were going.

And if she was right, she would know once they rounded this next corner...

* * *

John couldn't figure out his feelings. _Typical guy, _he thought to himself._ Always confused. Head and heart and...well, you know. Each one getting in the way of the others. _But his head could even make an argument for either side._ But maybe there's something to be said about going with my gut. It's never steered me wrong before. And anytime I chose not to listen to it, I got burned. Riley in particular. So maybe I'll go with my gut, with my instincts._

Just then, Cameron returned.

"There are no immediate threats in the area."

John noticed her mood had changed considerably. He had noticed this before she had left, but he was surprised that she was still so sullen. _Can a machine be sullen?_

John stood up and walked to Cameron. She didn't look at him. He curled his finger underneath her chin, and gently lifted her face to look at him. She could have easily resisted, but she didn't. She begrudgingly allowed her eyes to find his, and stared at him expectantly.

"I don't know why I came back for you. No explanation will ever be good enough. I can tell you what I was thinking of when I decided to go through."

She stared, waiting.

"All I could think about was when you had said to me, 'You said it yourself, John, I'm just a machine.' I couldn't get that out of my head."

She cocked her head, as she always did in a situation such as this.

"Your voice cracked when you said it. Like it hurt you to say it. Like you didn't want it to be true. And I think I knew, even then, that I was wrong. You aren't just a machine. A machine wouldn't be bothered by being called 'just a machine'. But you were. And you seemed even more upset that I had been the one to say it originally. And I knew then that I had to find you. Nothing else mattered at that moment. I had ten seconds to decide, and in that moment, there was no decision to be made because the decision had already been made. Do you understand?"

"Yes, John, I understand." She smiled, and instinctively, John reached out his hand to cup her face. He let his hand then run through her hair-something he'd always wanted to do. And John knew that it was that moment. The moment where he had to make a decision. What was it going to be?

Staring into her eyes, he knew. He realized he'd always known.

All of the sudden, Cameron turned her head to the doorway. John followed her gaze.

And there, standing in the doorway, was his father.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"Sorry, I know you weren't expecting me. At least not this soon." Kyle fumbled, trying to alleviate the awkwardness of what he'd almost witnessed.

John pulled away from Cameron. "No, I'm glad you're here." _Maybe if you could have arrived a little later..._

Kyle entered the room. "I wanted to make sure you're okay. Also, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye."

"There are a lot of people I don't get a chance to say goodbye to."

Words echoed in John's mind _"We lose everyone we love."_

Kyle could now see the pain and loss in John's eyes. He couldn't imagine what it was like to grow up with the expectations that John has to live up to.

Cameron, sensing the tension in the room recalled from previous experiences that the appropriate action might be to leave the two men alone.

"I'm going to patrol the area." She looked to John for confirmation.

She had just returned from patrolling, so John knew that it was just a pretense. He idly wondered how she had determined that she should do this.

John gave her a nod, letting her know that he would be okay, then Cameron left the room.

There was a lengthy pause before John broke the silence.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

Kyle realized then that John was right. He'd only come here to see John, to say goodbye, but maybe deep down he wanted answers too.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

When Kyle didn't continue, John prompted, "Like what?"

"Well, I guess everything."

And then John knew he had to tell him everything.

And so he did...

* * *

Derek was trying to get some sleep when all of a sudden he sensed that he was not alone. He opened his eyes, and almost fell out of his cot when he saw the T-1000 and the other machine standing above him.

"How did you get in here?"

The T-1000 smiled, creeping Derek out. "I have my ways. I searched for your brother, but could not find him. John and Cameron are nowhere to be found, either. I sincerely hope you have a good explanation for this."

At first Derek couldn't find the words to answer the T-1000, but he finally forced them out. "We thought they were in danger, so we moved them. I can take you to them."

"Very well, then."

And both machines turned around and left the tent, obviously expecting Derek to follow them.

He quickly grabbed his boots and his gun and proceeded after them.

* * *

Cameron wasn't really expecting to find anything in the abandoned hallways, except for maybe the occasional down-and-out civilian. She had been patrolling for 18 minutes and 43 seconds when she began searching in the direction Kyle had come from.

She was surprised when she heard something moving. Whatever it was was big. Not a rat. She searched the shadows, and she saw herself. Her processes instantly told her it was not herself, it was Allison.

"What are you doing here?"

Allison slowly crept out into the light and responded, "I followed Kyle."

"Why?"

"I was curious about where he was going."

"Well, you know now, so you should return to camp."

"Are you and John leaving?"

"Eventually, yes. Not right now."

"How long?"

"It is undetermined. We will know more once the others return." Cameron repeated her words. "You should return to camp."

Allison turned to leave, then changed her mind. "I'd like to see John. You know, before you guys leave."

Cameron thought it over. She found it unnecessary for this girl who barely knew John to be so concerned with him. But she also couldn't be sure what John would want, and she didn't want to disappoint him further.

"Alright. Come with me."

* * *

Kyle was stunned. He couldn't believe that this is what John, his son's, life had been. He thought he had it bad, being so young with the bombs hit. But this was a whole different level.

"I'm sorry," was all Kyle could think to say.

"You get used to it. Actually, I never let myself get used to it or accept it until recently."

"What changed?"

"I think it all started with Riley. I trusted her and my mom and Derek over Cameron, only to learn that even though Cameron may lie to me sometimes, she's always right. Everyone else lets their own personal feelings cloud their judgment, Cameron doesn't."

"Well, it's easy when you don't have feelings."

John's demeanor instantly changed. "I wouldn't go around talking about things you know nothing about."

Kyle was surprised at John's sudden change in attitude. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

John softened, logically knowing that Kyle was right. He couldn't have known what he was saying. "I'm sorry too. It's just Cameron's different...special. In more ways than even I know."

Kyle wanted to inquire further, but decided it would be best not to push it.

"What about your mom? How do you think she's doing without you?"

John, grateful for the change in topic, but not necessarily thrilled with the new topic, replied, "The hope is that we will travel back to within a few hours or a few days of when we left. So to her, it won't be too long."

"That makes sense."

All of the sudden, out of the corner of his eye, John saw two female figures appearing from out of the shadows in the hall. At closer inspection, he realized that it was Cameron...and Allison. Unless there was third doppelganger running around out there.

This was the last thing John needed. With everything going on, he didn't need a human version of Cameron thrown into the mix.

"Allison," John said, surprised.

"Hi, John." She turned to Kyle. "Sorry. I followed you."

This turn of events worried Kyle. Allison's concern for John just became something more. Knowing everything Kyle knew, he was sure that this would end badly for Allison. _Well, at least this time line won't exist for much longer_, Kyle thought to himself. It hit him then that that meant that he wouldn't exist for much longer either. _This time travel stuff is way too confusing for me._

Allison turned back to John. "I just wanted to say goodbye."

_Everyone wants to say goodbye_, John mused.

Although Allison had been nice to him, John had been uneasy being around her since he had first seen her. Despite her having her own personality, he could never get the thought out of his head. _She's not Cameron._

"Allison, you shouldn't be here." Not wanting to hurt her feelings, John continued on to explain. "I just mean that it's dangerous. You should go back to your life."

Despite John's explanation, Allison was hurt. "I'm sorry. I just thought..." _What was I thinking? I barely know this guy, and suddenly I'm, what, obsessed with him? No. Not obsessed. I'm not even sure I like him. He just...intrigues me. He has an air about him, something that commands attention. And he works with machines. He most likely loves a machine. I want to know why._

But of course she couldn't ask him. Not here. Not now. Not with Kyle and Cameron present. And Allison knew she wouldn't get John alone. Cameron wouldn't let her.

"Okay. I'll go back. I didn't mean anything by it." She turned to leave, but was surprised when a red-haired woman appeared around the corner.

The red-haired woman, in a terrifyingly commanding voice spoke to Allison. "Who are you?"

Allison replied, "Allison. Allison Young."

The woman, the T-1000, cocked her head slightly to the side. "You do not belong here. You are not necessary."

John spoke up. "It's okay, she was just leaving."

At that, Allison silently left the room, realizing that behind the woman stood another man and...Derek. She ignored the burning questions in her mind and continued on.

The T-1000 watched Allison leave, then turned to John. "It is time to return to the year two thousand and nine." She turned to Kyle. "There is a second TDE in a secure spot located ninety-five meters from here. The humans may come to say goodbye if they would like."

John wondered to himself why the T-1000 would even care about what Kyle and Derek wanted, not to mention how it would even know what Kyle and Derek might want.

But he was grateful that he wouldn't have to say goodbye just yet. "I would like it if both of you would come with us to the TDE."

Kyle and Derek exchanged glances, both already knowing what the answer would be. Kyle responded, "Of course."

"Very well then, we shall begin the journey." The T-1000 turned and left the room and the others followed.

* * *

Once they had been walking a short while, they came to what looked like a large safe. Something similar to where the TDE from 1999 had been stored.

The T-1000 approached the safe, and pulled the safe door off easily.

They all entered the safe, where the TDE could be seen clearly. The safe had obviously been used only to house the TDE.

The T-1000 turned to John and said, "Say your goodbyes now. In 60 seconds, I will arm the TDE and we will then have ten seconds before the TDE transports us back to the year two thousand and nine."

"When will we be returning to?" Even though the sentence was grammatically incorrect, John knew the T-1000 would understand.

"We will return to the day after we left. It is best not to attempt to return too close to when we originally left as we might then accidentally encounter ourselves."

This sounded about right to John. He turned to Kyle and Derek, not knowing what to say. "I'll miss you both." It sounded so lame, but he knew it was the truth. "I'm going to do everything I can do to prevent this war. I promise."

"I know," Kyle said.

John turned to Derek, not knowing what else to say. He'd barely been able to get to know this Derek, but he seemed much like the Derek he had known before. Without saying anything, Derek took John into a big bear hug before releasing him and stepping away.

Kyle did the same, but the hug lasted a few seconds longer. Kyle forced himself to push John away as he saw the T-1000 setting the TDE. They were running out of time. John would be gone soon and Kyle would cease to exist. "Go. Do what you have to. We'll meet again soon."

Cameron gently took John's hand into her own and guided him to the where she knew the bubble would form. The TDE was almost set. Cameron kept her hold on John's hand and drew him close to her. John didn't take his eyes off of his father.

But then he looked at Cameron, so suddenly that it surprised her.

"They can come with us." He said it so matter-of-factly, like he knew this for sure. But Cameron knew it was a question.

"John..." The TDE was set. They had 10 seconds.

"No. They will cease to exist. When we go back, there will still be a Kyle that will grow up and that I can send back to 1984, but THIS Kyle can come back with us. So can Derek. Is it possible?"

Cameron wasn't sure. John's logic was right, as far as she knew. Looking into his eyes, she couldn't help but answer, "Yes, John, it's possible."

John hurriedly shouted at Kyle and Derek. "Come with us!"

Cameron looked at the timer. They had 5 seconds left. If Kyle and Derek weren't quick, they wouldn't make it.

She ran out of the bubble while John yelled her name, begging her to come back. She grabbed both of their hands and pulled the two into the force field. By Cameron's calculations, they had 1.2 seconds remaining before the TDE activated. They had made it. The blue light brightened and surrounded them.

From outside the room, Allison looked on, amazed.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Another short chapter, but like the other short chapter, I arrived at a cliffhanger and had to stop. Also, I alternate between T-1000 and T-1001 because John still doesn't know that "Catherine Weaver" is a T-1001. So whenever it's from John's perspective I put T-1000, and vice versa for Sarah.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

Sarah, finding nothing in the lab, went in search of other rooms that might hold information._ If there's something here that could actually help me, it's probably being stored somewhere safe._

She wandered through the limitless halls of the building's basement. Suddenly, she heard a large crack, almost like lightning. She ran towards the noise, but couldn't find anything. After a few seconds, though, Sarah heard a series of unidentified sounds coming from behind her. She turned to see the T-1001 in the form of Catherine Weaver stepping out of what looked to be a safe that had been hidden behind a wall. She was naked, which meant that she had just come back from wherever she was.

Sarah, stunned, could only think of one thing. _John._

_

* * *

_

Once they were enveloped in bright blue light, the transfer was almost instantaneous. A moment later, they were all naked, which meant that they had made it. The T-1000 stepped forward and pushed open the door of the safe. Once it was open, John realized that it had been hidden behind a wall and the T-1000 had broken through both barriers in one push.

John looked to Kyle and Derek. "Maybe you should stay here until I have time to explain this to my mom."

Kyle and Derek each nodded their head in approval, and stepped to the side.

The T-1000 led the way out of the safe, followed immediately by John Henry, then John and Cameron.

As soon as John passed through the hole left by the T-1000, he saw his mom, who instantly took him in her arms. She held on so tight, he could barely breathe.

"Never do that again, okay?"

"I get it. No time traveling until I'm 18." John said, trying to lighten the mood.

Sarah didn't laugh.

"Uh, mom?"

"Yeah, John?" She still wouldn't let go.

"Maybe we could postpone this reunion until I get some clothes?"

Sarah, realizing what he meant, finally let go. She pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I have a change of clothes, a blanket, and a sheet that three of you can use until I can scrounge up some real clothes."

"That won't be necessary", the T-1000 said, and when they all looked at the T-1000, it was wearing a dress similar to the one they had first seen it in.

"Well, that's great for you, but the two of them can't materialize a dress out of thin air."

The T-1000 walked across the hall and opened the door to one of the rooms. Inside were dozens of outfits being kept in plastic bags.

Sarah, suspicious, asked "You just so happened to have a variety of clothing choices being stored across the hall from your time machine?"

The T-1000 looked at her and replied, "Yes. You never know when and what clothes you will need when dealing in time displacement.

While John, Cameron, and John Henry got changed, Sarah decided it was time to have a little chat with her T-1001 "friend."

"What's your end-game?" _Might as well get to the point._

"My end-game?"

"Yes. What do you hope to accomplish by doing whatever it is you're doing here?"

"It's simple. I am trying to save billions of lives, Ms. Connor. I am trying to prevent a war. What is your end-game?"

"To stop Skynet."

"Yes. Well, that is an admirable goal. What happens, then when you do defeat Skynet, assuming you will?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's to keep another Skynet from surfacing over the years?"

"I'll keep it from surfacing."

"And after you die?"

"Why don't you just get to the point?"

"Very well. I'll tell you what I told Mr. Ellison. You can't stop progress."

"The most effective way of preventing the war is not to stop Skynet, not to stop progress. It's not even to control that progress. The most effective way, Ms. Connor, is to progress in a way that is beneficial to humans. That's why I have enlisted Mr. Ellison to teach John Henry morals and the value of human life. You can give a machine as many rules as you like, but if you don't create it to understand those rules, they will always find a way around the rules. There is nothing to stop them."

"And that's what you're doing here? You really think it will work?"

"And what about your efforts? Have they been working?" With that, the T-1001 turned and began walking down the hall to the elevator.

John Henry appeared from the room the clothes were stored and followed the T-1001 into the elevator.

John and Cameron emerged just a few moments later. Sarah immediately fixed a stare at John. "We need to talk."

They moved down the hall towards the room Sarah had stayed in the night before, leaving Cameron behind.

* * *

When they entered the room, Sarah closed the door behind them. "Sit."

John did as she asked and sat in an old office chair that had been left behind years ago.

"What were you thinking?"

"I don't know mom, I just knew I only had one chance. And I knew that if I didn't take it, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life."

"What have I always taught you?" She didn't let him answer. "Your life is the only one that matters. And in this case, it's especially true."

"Mom, I'm safe, it all worked out."

"No! You don't get to just make decisions like this, John! Not for her!"

"Why not for her? I kept trusting you and your instincts. I kept doubting her because you insisted that I should. And look where that got me! I pushed her away, and now a girl is dead. Now Charley's dead!" His voice cracked on those last words.

There was a weighted silence between the two of them before Sarah spoke.

"John? Are you in love with her?"

"What? Why would you ask me that?"

"Because you traveled across time to save her. You risked all of humanity to save her. You didn't even think twice about it. It's like you already knew you would do anything for her."

"Mom..."

"No. I want you to answer me."

"Mom, we weren't the only ones to come back." John knew it wasn't fair, avoiding her question by bringing up Kyle and Derek, but he wasn't ready to talk to her about Cameron. And Kyle and Derek were waiting for them.

"What? John, did you bring someone back from there? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that it doesn't matter. They would have ceased to exist. Cameron even said..." He paused, knowing Sarah didn't need to hear about something Cameron had said.

"They?"

"Yeah, two people."

"Who John?"

John could hear the suspicion in her voice. _She thinks she knows, and she's afraid that she's right._

"Derek...and Kyle."

Sarah, who had been leaning against the wall, collapsed to the floor in shock.


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

_Kyle? Here? How can that be?_

Sarah was so entwined in the thought of having Kyle back and what that meant that she didn't notice John speaking to her.

"Mom? Mom? Are you okay?" After she didn't answer, John left the room. He had an idea. He wasn't sure if this would make things better or worse.

* * *

Ellison had just picked up Savannah from school. So far, she seemed fine. It didn't seem to bother her that her "mother" was gone. _Maybe she knows something. Maybe she can sense that it isn't really her mother._ Ellison shook the thought out of his head, deeming it impossible for Savannah to know this and not say anything about it. She still seemed to find comfort in her "mother", which probably wouldn't be true if she suspected it wasn't actually her mother.

The cops were still spread out around the building, asking questions about the day before. An explosion on the top floor of one of the highest buildings in L.A. was of great interest to them. Ellison brought Savannah to his office, and set her up with her coloring books at his desk. He would have preferred to have been able to bring her back to her house, but he needed to be there to avoid suspicion. Not that the cops thought someone working at the company was responsible, but it would be seen as strange. Especially in light of the recent kidnapping incident.

Just as Savannah had started coloring, the door to the office opened, and there stood Catherine Weaver, or whatever it was, along with John Henry.

When Savannah looked up to see the both of them, she immediately brightened. "Mommy! John Henry! Come here John Henry, I want to show you my picture!" John Henry obliged, while Catherine ignored Savannah and instead spoke to Ellison.

"Mr. Ellison, your attention is needed in the basement, Northeast side of the building."

Ellison had so many questions, but after seeing what he'd seen the day before, he thought it best not to rock the boat. Yet.

So he exited the room, leaving Savannah alone with Catherine and John Henry. Ellison briefly wondered if it was safe for Savannah, but realized that all of the past actions of John Henry and Catherine Weaver indicated that Savannah's safety was of utmost importance to both of them.

After Ellison was gone, Catherine addressed Savannah. "Hello, Savannah."

Savannah looked up from her coloring, and replied, "Hi mommy. How was your trip?"

"It was very beneficial, thank you for asking." There was a pause before she spoke again. "Savannah?"

"Yes, mommy?"

"I'm going to leave you with John Henry for awhile. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. We'll have tons of fun!"

"Good. I will return soon."

"Bye mommy," Savannah called out while Catherine turned and left the room.

* * *

After John and Sarah had walked away, Cameron made herself useful. She went to Derek and Kyle in the safe.

"They're gone. You can come get dressed now, if you'd like." She showed them where to find the clothes and waited for them to get dressed.

While they were getting dressed, Cameron heard the bell to the elevator ring. She turned to assess who was approaching and found Ellison.

"Hello, Mr. Ellison."

"Cameron."

"What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. Ms. Weaver asked me to come down here."

"Oh. I am sure that she means for you to meet our guests."

"Guests?"

At this, Derek and Kyle emerged from the room.

"Mr. Ellison, you know Derek Reese. And this is his brother Kyle."

"Derek, Kyle, this is Mr. James Ellison."

Before any of the men could reply, John came around the corner looking upset.

Cameron, worried, asked "John, what's wrong?"

John looked at Kyle. "I need you to come with me. It's time."

As the two turned to leave, John's eyes met Cameron's and he gestured for her to join them. She inclined, leaving Derek and Ellison alone.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Derek held his hand out for Ellison to shake it.

"Actually, we've met before." Ellison was still confused as to how a man who had been shot in the head just days before was now standing in front of him.

After some thought, Derek realized that Ellison must mean the "other" Derek.

"Well, that wasn't me. I've never met you."

"I'm pretty sure it was you."

Derek smiled despite himself. "Yes, but that was a different version of me. I come from an alternate future where John Connor doesn't even exist."

"How does he not exist?"

"Because he time traveled to our time. He skipped over all those years. It's all very confusing, time travel and nonlinear time and everything. All I know is that I'm here, and I've never met you before."

"Well, then I guess I've never met you either." After Derek gave him a blank stare, obviously not comprehending, Ellison continued. "Well, if you're from a different future, then it stands to reason that you are a different person as well. Our experiences shape us in unpredictable and powerful ways, Derek."

Derek nodded his head in approval.

"So, Derek, did anyone tell you what's going on here?"

"No, not really. It was kind of a last-minute decision to come."

"Well, allow me to explain..."

* * *

When John returned with Cameron and Kyle, he found his mother the same as he'd left her. _I wonder if this is what she was like after I left._

"Mom?" When there was no answer, he tried a different tactic. "I have Kyle here, he wants to meet you."

Sarah finally looked up into John's face. "You're not real."

"What? Mom, of course I'm real."

"No, you're not. This happened before. When I was shot. I saw Kyle. It must be happening again. I wanted so bad for you to be back, that I'm imagining this whole thing."

"Mom, no, I'm really here, and so is Kyle." John looked at Kyle, granting him silent permission to enter the room.

"Mom? He's right here, see?"

Sarah looked up and gasped when she saw Kyle. The first thing she noticed was his eyes. But she was quickly brought back to reality. "No. It's not really him."

"Mom, touch him, it's really him. He's not a hallucination. You hugged me before, how could you have done that if I was a hallucination?"

Sarah, tempted by John's logic, reached for Kyle's hand. The moment her hand touched his, she knew. It was really Kyle. She wasn't crazy.

* * *

John and Cameron had left Sarah and Kyle alone. Things were too awkward to have an audience added to it.

Without speaking, John and Cameron starting wandering the halls, going nowhere in particular.

"She asked me."

Cameron was confused as to what John meant, but knew from experience that he would continue without her prompting.

"My mom. She asked me what you asked me."

_Am I really doing this? Am I really having this conversation?_

"I ask you a lot of questions."

This made John chuckle a bit. It was one of those quirks that John loved so much about her, her tendency to be so literal all of the time.

"The big question. One of the last you asked me."

"John, I'm not sure what you mean." At this point, Cameron was fairly certain that she did know which question John was talking about, but since she wasn't entirely certain, she waited for him to tell her.

John sighed loudly and stopped walking. Cameron stopped with him. He turned to her, serious now. Without thinking, he took her hands in his.

"Cameron, I need to know how you feel about me."

"I feel...good around you. I like being with you. I am glad that we are holding hands. Sometimes..."

She hesitated, which was unusual for her. John prompted her to continue. "Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes, I wish we were closer. If we are sitting on opposite sides of a couch, I wish that we were sitting right next to each other. I often feel this when we are both sitting in the back seat of the truck. I wish one of us was sitting in the middle seat."

As John processed all of this, he could only come to one conclusion. It wasn't impossible. This whole time, he'd thought that any feelings he had for Cameron would be one-sided. Even when he found out that she could experience emotions, he still hadn't been sure that that actually meant anything. It's why he had been so hot-and-cold with her, especially lately. Not necessarily because of what others would think, but because he was afraid that he would realize that he was crazy. That thinking that there could ever be anything with Cameron was pathetic.

But it wasn't. It wasn't pathetic. In whatever way she was able to, Cameron felt the same about him as he did about her. And finally, he was ready.

He took a deep breath. "Cameron, I love you."


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

As soon as John and Cameron had left Sarah and Kyle alone, they both realized how awkward the situation was. Kyle had not had much time to process the situation, and Sarah had had less.

Kyle was the first to speak. "So I guess we..."

Sarah was somewhat surprised that John had told him. But another part of her wasn't surprised at all, especially if John thought he'd never see this Kyle again. _Well, Kyle was always one to point out the elephant in the room. A straight-shooter. At least from what I remember._

"Yeah."

"And I..."

Sarah realized that John must have told him what had happened to the Kyle that she had known.

Sarah replied, not able to disguise the sadness in her voice, "Yeah." There was a pause as something occurred to her. "But it wasn't really you."

Kyle had no idea what she was talking about, and she could tell. She explained.

"You're from a different reality. It's entirely possible that you are different from the Kyle that I knew. At least in little ways. And so in more than one way, we didn't actually... But you're still essentially Kyle Reese, John's father.

"Yeah. That's...weird."

This made Sarah laugh. "Yeah, it is. Our life has always been pretty weird, though."

"What did you do? What was your life like?"

"Well, we moved around a lot for the early part of John's life. I trained him as best I could. How to handle a weapon, how to fight, things like that. Then, when he was old enough, we started searching for Skynet. I didn't want him to have to become the leader of the Resistance. I didn't want him to have to live in a world dominated by Skynet. I still don't. But over the past year...somehow he's become John Connor, leader of the Resistance. And now, it's seeming more and more like we'll never stop Skynet."

Kyle, recognizing the hopelessness in her words, reached a hand out to comfort her. She looked up, embarrassed, and continued.

"Then we found Skynet. And we found the creator and explained everything to him. He helped us destroy every bit of research, but he died in the process. Which was probably for the best. Or at least we thought so. We thought we stopped it. But then one day a T triple 8 came into John's school posing as a substitute teacher and tried to kill him. And that was when we found out we hadn't stopped it. Someone else had built Skynet."

"How did John get away? From the T triple 8, I mean."

"Cameron. She was posing as a student. She's been with us ever since."

"Yeah, she and John..."

"Yeah, I'm really trying to be in denial about whatever that, so I'd appreciate it if you'd respect that."

This time, Kyle laughed. He was starting to understand what he had liked about her. Or will like about her, depending on how you look at it.

* * *

"I love you too John." Cameron smiled.

"Are you sure, Cameron?"

"Of course I'm sure, John. 'When you know, you know.'"

"Okay, but do you even understand what love is, what it means?"

"Yes John, it is an affectionate concern for the well-being..."

John interrupted her. "I'm not asking you if you know the definition of love, I'm asking if you understand what love is."

"Will you explain it to me, John?"

She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide, expectant.

He thought about how best to explain it.

"It's when you get nervous around someone. When you get excited, and you miss them when they're not around. You can't wait to see them again. You put their own needs before your own. You'd die for them." He realized that with her programming, some of those things could be true whether she loves him or not, so he searched his mind for other examples.

"You want them to be happy. You want to make them laugh. And you like when they make you laugh..."

"I think I understand now, John."

"You do?"

"Yes. Ever since your birthday, things have been different. I have done things that I don't understand. Even before Riley was a real threat, I didn't want her around. I didn't like that you preferred to spend time with her. You never talked to me. I missed you. We use to be friends, and then suddenly we weren't. And I didn't like that. Sometimes, I'd watch you sleep. For hours, I'd just watch you. This was not a logical use of my time. I should have spent that time patrolling the area and preparing for any and all attack possibilities. But I couldn't stop myself. And being near you, here, now, holding hands, I have a strange feeling. I'm not sure if it's a good feeling or a bad feeling. But I think I like it."

John smiled. Even if Cameron couldn't love him like a human girl could, she could love him in her own way. And maybe that was more like a human girl than he would have ever expected. Either way, it was enough.

In a split second, his lips were crashing together with hers, as he kissed her with more passion than he had ever known he possessed. Every pent-up emotion was poured into her as she began to kiss him back, unsure of what to do, but her intuition began to kick in as the kiss deepened. John's hands ran through her hair, over her arms, down to her hips, and under her shirt for a moment before reaching back up to her face, reality coming back to him as he gently pulled away.

"Everyone will wonder where we are by now."

"Yes. There is much to discuss. Much to decide."

Neither of them moved though, but finally Cameron pulled away, being less controlled by her emotions than John. Their hands entwined together for a brief moment before detaching and walking back towards where they had left Sarah and Kyle.

* * *

As Cameron and John approached the room where Sarah and Kyle had been, the T-1000 emerged from the room, followed by Sarah and Kyle.

The T-1000 noticed their presence and gestured towards the room across the hall, the one in which John Henry had spent his life in. "Will you join us?"

John obliged.

Ellison and Derek were already waiting inside. Once they were all there, the T-1000 began to speak.

"I believe that we all share a common goal. We all want to stop Skynet. However, even if we stop Skynet, which we should, there will always be someone out there trying to build a stronger, more advanced A.I. This is why I have built John Henry. He will fight for the humans. But he will also allow progress. I have created John Henry to constantly grow and evolve, to become stronger and smarter. If we eliminate any presently existing A.I.s similar to John Henry, then no A.I. in the future will be able to surpass John Henry. As long as we protect him and allow him to grow and upgrade him when necessary, he will always be the strongest and the smartest A.I. Therefore, he will be aware of any A.I. that poses a threat to the human race."

When Sarah was sure that the T-1001 was finished, she said what everyone was thinking. "But why? Why do you care? Have you been reprogrammed?"

The T-1001 smiled slightly, which was unusual for it. "Ms. Connor, I cannot be programmed. My structure and existence is far too changeable to successfully control it in any way. And my ability to adapt to any environment also allows me insight into many situations and a unique perspective on those situations. The human race, for example. This world is better when run by humans. Skynet logically came to the conclusion that humans are ineffective and inefficient and decided that evolution demanded that humans be wiped from existence. But what Skynet failed to take into account was the balance that humans provide. They may be ineffective and inefficient, but they also bring life to this planet. They counteract their destruction and death with life. If Skynet were given rule, eventually the planet would die. This is not logical."

John, taking his leadership role once again, asked the T-1000, "So what do we do?"

"We fight. We locate all A.I.s currently existing and currently in development and destroy them. With John Henry's help, I am confident that we will acheive this goal. Skynet, of course, is the largest threat, and is, therefore, our priority. I have obtained a property that you all may reside on. It has a main house with four bedrooms, as well as a guest house with two bedrooms. It is somewhat secluded for being in Los Angeles, so you won't have to worry about nosy neighbors. It is completely furnished and ready for you to move in to. You will find new identities and papers for each of you, as well as bank cards and cash. There are weapons and ammunition in the basement of the main house. You will have access to anything you may need in order to complete the task at hand. Are there any questions?"

Everyone was silent, not sure what to say. This was not what they were used to.

"Obviously, it is necessary for most of you, with the exception of Kyle Reese and Mr. Ellison, to lay low. Do not attract any unnecessary attention to yourselves. Try not to go out during the day, unless you are driving somewhere."

The T-1000 paused again, waiting for questions.

"So will you join us?"

No one said anything. After a lengthy silence, John spoke up. "I'm in."

Cameron was next, always following John, "I am in as well." They shared a quick smile.

Sarah, knowing that she would never leave her son, responded, "Sure."

One by one, the remaining men agreed to join.

_This is just the beginning of something much bigger than any of us could have ever imagined_, John thought to himself.

* * *

**NOTE: Story is continued in Episode 2: The Yellow Link.**


End file.
